


Fire and Thunder

by SamSquid



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AtLA, Bending (Avatar), F/M, Firebending & Firebenders, Team Avatar - Freeform, lightning bending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24318100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamSquid/pseuds/SamSquid
Summary: Nira, a girl raised by the Thunder Boar spirit, is fated to help the avatar restore balance. When given a vision of what would happen should the avatar fail to restore balance to the world, Nira sets off on a journey with Aang and his friends. As fate would have it, the avatar is not meant to be the one she guides, but instead it is the hot-headed fire prince Zuko. Nira is determined to guide the scarred prince towards peace, for if she fails, the balance of the world is doomed.I do not own ATLA or any of its characters. Just this fanfic and my OC's Nira and Raijin.
Relationships: Zuko (Avatar)/Original Character(s), Zuko/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	1. Prologue

On a small island in the Fire Nation there resides a shrine maiden, Nira, who maintains the shrine of the Thunder Boar. The shrine is her home and she is the only occupant, well, human occupant. Nira was gifted with a strong connection to the spirit world since birth. The Thunder Boar, Raijin, was her oldest friend, mentor, and second occupant of the shrine. Other spirits would visit as well, and so she came to be familiar with most of the spirits in the Fire Nation. At the age of seven, she started to have visions. These visions were due to her connection to the spirit world, where time and space were practically non-existent. They would be unexpected, and most would occur in a dream. Overtime, she learned she could not force these visions to happen, nor could she stop them. 

Nira was content. She was happy to live at the shrine and practice her lightning and fire bending. Raijin loved her company as well and completely devoted himself to protecting her. To Raijin, she was just a strangely shaped piglet. His little fire piglet. But he knew that her time to leave was approaching. War had disturbed the balance of the world, and the avatar was missing. Even if the avatar was to return, the balance had been shifting for over 100 years. It would take more than just the avatar to fix it. The world would need her to help restore balance as well. Raijin looked at Nira, her fiery hair swaying lightly in the breeze, her electric blue eyes intently focused on the cup of tea in her hands, and the way her face scrunched up from sipping the tea when it was too hot. All things he would miss dearly, but she was turning sixteen in a week. On the dawn of her sixteenth birthday, she would be given a vision. That would be the beginning of her destiny, and it meant she would have to leave. 

**Nira p.o.v.**

“Piglet.” Raijin was calling me. His rough voice, unusually soft. 

“Raijin? What is it? You’re unusually soft spoken today.”

“You can feel it, can’t you? The imbalance of the world.” Raijin's tone was serious, yet gentle. I knew where he was headed with this, my face faltered a little forming into a frown. My silence, a sign for him to continue. 

“Next week you turn sixteen. You will have to leave before midsun on your sixteenth birthday. It is your duty to act as an avatar for the spirits. You will be tasked with guiding someone who is a key factor in restoring the balance of the world.” His brow was furrowed now. “Once you leave, you cannot return to reside in this shrine. Ever.” His amber eyes met my teary blue ones. 

“Are you saying I can never see you again?” I peered at him, my eyes fearful of the response I may receive; but he chuckled. 

“Silly piglet… I will always be with you. I will be there whenever you need me. All you have to do is call.” Letting out a shaky breath as some tears escaped, I ran up to him and hugged his large snout. “But you must also remember that it is  _ your _ duty to help restore balance. I will not be there to make important decisions or to fight where it is necessary. I have trained you very well in lightning bending, and the dragons have gifted you with extraordinary firebending. You are a gifted little piglet, and while I will always worry about you, I know I shouldn’t. However, a human gifted in the way you are is extremely rare. Only comparable to the avatar themself. You should not draw unnecessary attention to your spiritual talents, as some may seek to take advantage of them. You must also keep control over your feelings. You can’t accidentally conjure up a thunderstorm every time you get angry or sad. You must keep a distance between yourself and the people you meet. Any emotional ties or biases could cloud your judgement and obstruct your duty to restore balance.”

“Hey! I have no issues controlling my anger!” I yelled. Then there was suddenly a flash of light, roar of thunder, and a smirk on the face of the boar in front of me.

“No issues controlling your anger, eh?” Raijin broke from his smirk into a thunderous roar of laughter. His laugh was contagious. My pouting expression effortlessly changed into a wide smile and string of giggles. As my mood changed, the storm clouds dissipated and the sun grew brighter. 

“You know, you won't be able to charge at any boys that try to woo me anymore. I could finally start dating!” I joked. Raijin however huffed angrily as thunder started to rumble and lightning jumped from cloud to cloud. 

“I was joking, silly” I laughed. Raijin’s thunder began to calm as his sour expression softened. “I get my temper from you, ya know” I giggled. He simply let out a huff and turned his head away from me. Chuckling, I threw my arms around his neck, his large head nestled onto my back. “I’m really going to miss this… I’ll miss you. I never knew my parents and I don’t need to. You were the best dad I could have asked for.” My grip on him tightened and I could feel the rumble of a low chuckle in his chest.

“As a spirit, I am unable to have a family of my own; but I’m glad I have you, piglet. You will always be my little piglet. I’ll eat anyone who tries to hurt you.” Raijin laughed thunderously at his last comment. “Come on, it’s time we go hunting for lunch.”

“You’re right, I’m starving” I laughed.

With that, I climbed on his back and we both set off on a hunt for our dinner. He brought me to the head of the river atop the mountain where I managed to catch three large butterfly salmon. Coming back down the mountain, I harvested a head of cabbage, some squash, and root vegetables. Back at the shrine, I picked off some jasmine from my personal stock. 

_ Tonight, I’ll be sure to make the most delicious feast for us both. Things are about to change. My peaceful life will never be the same.  _


	2. The Southern Air Temple

_ Everything is dark and burning. Red and black uniforms have raided the landscape. Spirits have turned dark and evil. The boy with the arrows lies on the ground covered in soot. Lifeless. A scarred prince stands above him, hand ablaze with eyes darkened by guilt. Time is in reverse and the paths divide. A new time. A different path. The young boy illuminates the ice around him. He is accompanied by a girl and an older boy. They are south. The scarred prince pursues them but they escape to the Southern Air Temple. There is where the wait will begin. Where destiny will be rewritten. The avatar is alive. Guide the prince towards balance and light.  _

_ “Aang, I will be waiting at the Southern Air Temple.” _

**Nira’s P.O.V.**

Sitting up quickly, I gasped for air. My body was coated in a sheen of sweat. The dawn of my sixteenth birthday is here. That was the vision. The vision of what is to come and what could happen if I fail. It was also where I will have to go. Raijin knocked on my door and waited before he slid the door open. He was in his “human form.” Everything about him was human aside his trotters and tail. On his head he wore a mask of a boar head. His boar head. His torso was absurdly muscular. He really looked like the embodiment of thunder. He wore trousers for modesty. This was the form I saw him in the most when I relied on him as a child. Once I could manage to feed and cook for myself, he went back to his original and most comfortable form of the Boar. He only ever presents himself like this when he is indoors. 

“You had the vision didn’t you?” Raijin asked, removing his mask. His eyes were solemn, not quite ready to see me part from the shrine. 

“Yes… I did. You’re in your human form. Does that mean you made my birthday breakfast?” I asked. Raijin’s frown turned into a smug smile. As he slid the door open completely, I was met with the smell of sweet maple sap and fire berry cakes. Jumping out of bed I ran over to him and threw my arms around him, ensnaring him in a tight embrace. “Thank you so much!!” He returned the tight embrace, lightly kissing the top of my head before letting me go to run off towards the cakes. For a moment, as I stuffed cakes in my mouth, Raijin saw the same goofy child he grew to adore 15 years ago, when I was left on the porch of the shrine. 

“The name piglet really has always suited you!” Raijin’s laughter bellowed as I stared at him, mouth full of cakes and tree sap. Roughly swallowing the food in my mouth, I glared at him, before breaking out into laughter with him. Raijin’s laughter slowed to a halt.

“You need to pack, piglet. Where will I be taking you?” Raijin’s stare was now one of responsibility. He too had his part to play in the outcome of the world, and this was it. Swallowing the last bite of my cake, I answered. 

“The southern air temple. There I will meet the avatar and his new found friends.” 

“Then let's get going.” With that I packed everything I needed and got myself ready for a journey. Raijin was waiting for me outside the shrine, now back in his boar form. I hopped on his back and we were on our way.

Three days later, we finally arrived at the base of the mountain the southern air temple was on. Now all we had to do was make our way up the mountain. It was more than just steep. There was no way I could climb it and as far as I knew, Raijin didn’t fly. 

“Umm… exactly how in the world am I supposed to scale that thing?” I asked Raijin. His response was thunderous laughter.

“You, piglet, are not scaling that monster of a mountain. I am.” He laughed. 

“And exactly how do you plan on doing that?” 

“I am the spirit of thunder and lightning. The answer is simple. Run fast.” And with that we were taking off at the speed of lightning up the mountain. Soon we arrived at the temple. 

“This is where I must leave you, Piglet.” Raijin stated. Turning back into his humanoid form, he embraced me in a hug and wrapped a warm black cloak. “This is the cloak of the volcano spirit from our island. He wanted you to take it with you. It is light, but will provide you a lot of warmth.” Taking off his boar's head mask, he gently kissed the top of my head.

“Raiji- Dad, don’t forget to water the vegetable patch and maintain the shrine. I know you said I can’t ever live there permanently again, but I’ll be damned if I don't visit you! So… please take care of it! I won’t fail here. I’ll restore the balance and make you proud!” I looked up at him now, tears staining my cheeks, but my eyes were fierce with determination. Raijin’s eyes were wide with shock at my sudden outburst. His eyes started to tear up just before he put on his mask again and ensnared me in a bone crushing hug. 

“You have already made me proud to be your father, Nira. I never thought I would learn so much from a human, but having you as a daughter showed me I was wrong, and I am so happy to be wrong.” Raijin choked out. I could hear him sniffling under his mask before he pulled away, turning back into a giant boar. We never said goodbye, but simply waved. I would see him again. 

I finally made my way up to the statue of the monk. Looking at the statue, I could feel an energy coming from it. This man was important to the avatar. Not just Aang, but a previous one too. A very strong friendship. Just as I came out of my thoughts I heard a voice. I quickly hid behind the statue.

“I want you to meet somebody.” 

_ Aang? _

“Who's that?”

_ The older boy, perhaps? _

“Monk Gyatso, the greatest airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know.” 

_ That’s definitely Aang! _

“You must miss him.” The water tribe girl stated.

“Yeah.” Aang confirmed.

“Aang? Is that you? It is! You actually came!” I said as I came out from behind the statue. I was greeted with the screams of all three people, which in turn caused me to scream as well since it surprised me. Then something hit my foot. 

“A boomerang?” I stared at the weapon confused. Who the heck uses a boomerang as a weapon?

“Wait a minute… your voice! You’re the voice from my dream!” Aang exclaimed. 

“Hahaha and you’re the boy from mine!” I laughed. 

“Hahah! Spirits…” Aang and I both said whimsically. 

“My name is Nira” I said as I extended my hand out to Aang. 

“I’m Aang! I’m the avatar, but I guess you already know that.” Aang happily shook my hand, but when he touched my skin, we both had a vision. I was travelling with them on Appa as all of us laughed. At that point Aang's vision ended but mine continued. As my view in the vision widened, I also saw the scarred prince next to me. He was laughing too. He was a friend of the avatar. This is the path I must lead him towards! 

_ Nira?... Nira... Nira! _

“Nira!” Aang yelled as his hand was waving in front of my face.

“Oh sorry! I guess my vision wasn’t done yet. There was something in your future the spirits couldn’t let you see. All good things though! Another friend of yours in the future!” I laughed off my strange behavior hoping the talk of friendship would make it easier for him to absorb.

“Oh okay! Well they obviously wanted me to see that you are a friend so it’s nice to meet you!” Aang accepted my weird spirit stuff so easily it caught me off guard.

“It’s really nice to meet you too! I can’t wait to become better friends!” I smiled at him genuinely. I looked over at the boy and girl behind him, both of which looked skeptical of me. The boy most of all, since he was still pointing some sort of weapon at me. 

“OH this is Katara and Sokka! Guys, this is Nira! No need to worry. She’s trustworthy. My gut tells me to trust her, well that and the vision!” Aang laughs. Katara sent me a warm smile but seemed a little hesitant to just take Aang's word for it. Sokka, on the other hand, wasn’t convinced at all.

“How do we know she isn’t fire nation? How did you even get up here? I don’t see any wings on you!” Sokka started spewing out his concerns.

“I got up here by riding on the back of the Thunder Boar. And I am technically from the Fire Nation.” I stated.

“AH-HAH! AWAY FROM THE ENEMY!” Sokka shouted. Katara backed away a little but stopped when she realized something.

“Thunder boar?!” Katara and Aang asked, absolutely flabbergasted. 

“Yes. He is practically my dad.”

“YOUR DAD?!” all three exclaimed. 

“Well, not biologically of course! He’s a spirit so reproduction ain’t exactly on the table. But, he adopted me when I was left in his shrine.”

“Huh… okay!” Aang completely accepted this reasoning but now, Sokka and Katara were back to the Fire Nation thing.

“Either way you’re still fire nation!” Sokka yelled

“Well, actually I don’t think I am a citizen. I was raised there, but on a small island. I have never been a real part of their civilization with the exception of when I left the island to learn how to bend fire.”

“YOU’RE A FIRE BENDER!?!” Sokka’s volume somehow got even louder.

“Yes. After I learned how to bend lightning, my dad said I needed to learn how to bend fire.” At this point, Katara got a good read on me and could tell I was being sincere. She believed I meant no harm. Sokka, however, was getting ready to charge at me. 

“Sokka stop! My gut tells me she’s good!” Aang defended me.

“Well my gut says she’s not!” Sokka rebutted, but as he said this his stomach growled.

“Actually I think your stomach says you’re hungry.” Katara smirked at her quip and then she and Aang burst out into laughter. Sokka began to blush from embarrassment. 

“Oh I have some smoked butterfly salmon jerky if you want some! I might even have some crackers too…” I said rummaging through my bag, finally pulling out the food. Sokka’s mouth began to water, but he was hesitant to take the food. I looked him in the eyes and made my voice soft and gentle. 

“Please, I know what the fire nation has done. The whole reason why I am here is to restore balance to the world, and the only way to do that is to put an end to this war and stop them from invading the rest of the world. I’m on  _ your _ side. So please don’t let yourself go hungry on my account. You are a very crucial part to all of this. You are important.” I looked at him with admiration and determination. He was now a whole new shade of red due to the compliments I showered him with, but his growling stomach snapped him out of his embarrassment. However, soon he took a proud stance even with his blush!

“Well who am I to deny food given to me? These gains didn’t come from nothing!” Sokka stated as he flexed his muscles proudly. His muscles were nothing compared to Raijin, but it's not his fault. He’s only human.

“Why yes! Such an excellent physique! Truly the manliest man I’ve ever laid eyes on.” I continued to fuel his ego, Katara laughing from catching on to what I was doing. Sokka started marching off towards Aang as Katara came up to me.

“Oh you’re good.” Katara giggled. I responded with a coy smile and chuckle. 

_ Yeah, I like these people! _

“Where are you going?” Katara called out to Aang as he climbed the steps of the temple.

“The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet.” Aang responded. Katara looked at me and I responded with a shrug. As we approached the Air Temple Sanctuary, we were met with a large wooden door dominated by an enormous woodcut composed of three air symbols protruding from its surface.

“But Aang... no one could have survived in there for a hundred years.” Katara stated.

“It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long.” Aang retorted.

“Good point.” Katara admitted.

“Katara, whoever's in there might help me figure out this Avatar thing!” Aang added.

“And whoever's in there might have more delicious, cured meats!” Sokka added eagerly.

“I just gave you jerky Sok-” I abruptly stopped as I stared at the empty bag that jerky once resided in. “My jerky…” I pouted. Sokka gave me an apologetic looked as he stuck the last sliver of jerky between my lips, which I solemnly chewed on as I mourned.

“I don’t suppose you have a key?” Sokka asked, turning to Aang.

“The key, Sokka, is airbending.” Aang then raised his arms and bended some air from each arm into the horns of the woodcuts. The air symbols flip, one by one, and together they play a chord. The door opens, revealing the dark cavern of the Air Temple Sanctuary. 

“Hello? Anyone home?” Aang calls out into the sanctuary as we follow him inside. Once inside, we see statues of a bunch of different people.

_ Huh… they’re all from different parts of the world. Benders maybe? It looks like there’s a pattern to them.  _

“Statues?! That's it? Where's the meat?” Sokka whined. I glared at him and then looked at the empty bag in his hand before glaring at him again. 

“What? I’m a growing boy!” I rolled my eyes and laughed at Sokka’s defence. 

“Oh please! You are just a meat fiend!” I giggled. Sokka was about to argue but he instead sighed and gave in. He knew what I said was true. I could hear Aang and Katara discussing something further in the Sanctuary but I couldn’t make out what it was they were saying. As I was going to turn to start walking over there, Sokka started to say something. 

“Soooo… you’re hair color. Pretty, uh, flamey…” Sokka awkwardly stated. I raised an eyebrow at him as my mouth stretched into a grin.

“‘Flamey’? Hah I guess you could describe it that way.” I laughed.

“Is it a common color over in the fire nation? I’ve never seen anyone from any of the nations with that hair color.” Sokka questioned.

“Ah… uh, no it’s not. Frankly, I don’t know why my hair is like this. I never met any of my parents so I don’t know if it came from them. I was born with spiritual powers though! Maybe it’s from that? Why the sudden interest? Oh no! Does it look weird or bad?!” I frantically started trying to hide my hair. I’ve always gotten weird stares but it never really clocked that it was probably from my hair. They all were probably weirded out or thought it was ugly!

“Huh?! NO! It’s not weird or bad at all! It’s just the first time I’ve seen it. It’s kinda pretty…” Sokka whispered the last part but I still heard. A deep blush formed on my face as I stared at him in shock. Before either of us could say anything else, we heard Katara yell something.

“Of course! They're Avatars. All these people are your past lives, Aang.” Katara exclaimed.

“Wow! There's so many!” Aang responded. Sokka and I made our way over to them. 

“Past lives? Katara, you really believe in that stuff?” Sokka asked, skeptically. 

“It's true. When the Avatar dies, they are reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle. I’ve even spoken to a few of the avatar’s past lives while in the spirit world. I kinda have a girl crush on Kyoshi… and avatar Roku is a total riot!” I laughed. All three looked at me totally surprised. Aang most of all!

“You’ve met and talked with my past lives?!” He asked.

“Well, yeah. While you were missing, a lot of spirits looked to me as a last resort since I can communicate with them. Some even spoke about me having to learn the other elements. Though I think that was just crazy talk. I’m just a firebender. They said something about turtles?? Or was it lions… But either way it’s just crazy talk!” I began to ramble until a hand was placed over my mouth and I was pulled behind a statue. I noticed a strange pointy shadow coming from the doorway of the sanctuary. 

_ Jeez… I need to stop rambling when I get nervous. _

“Fire nation soldier! Nobody make a sound…” Sokka whispered, removing his hand from my mouth.

“You’re making a sound!” Katara yell whispered. 

“Shhhh!” Aang, Sokka, and I all shushed her simultaneously. Sokka readied his weapon.

“That fire nation soldier won’t know what hit him!” Sokka said right before he jumped out from behind the statue, weapon at the ready. But he stopped. Aand, Katara, and I all then looked out from our hiding spots. 

_ What is that? A bat-cat? _

“Lemur!!!” Aang shouted happily.

“Dinner…” Sokka drooled. 

“Don't listen to him! You're going to be my new pet.” Aang tried to reassure the lemur.

“Not if I get him first!” Sokka then lunged at the lemur. Aang followed suit. 

“Wait! Come back!” Aang calls out to the lemur as he and Sokka run out of the Sanctuary. Leaving Katara and I with each other and the statues. I then noticed her necklace. 

_ I’ve seen one of the past avatars with a necklace like that. When I asked her about it she said it was her betrothal necklace. Is Katara seriously engaged at such a young age?! _

“Hey, uh, your necklace… aren’t you a little young for marriage?” I asked her. She looked at me with slight shock before her features settled into sorrow. 

“It was my mothers… she died. The fire nation invaded my village and killed her along with many others.” Katara admitted. 

_ Oh… well… shit.  _

“I’m so sorry…” I didn’t know what else to say. I mean, I literally didn’t see that one coming. And I see a lot of things!

“It’s pretty. Uh, the necklace. I assume you guys were really close then?” I said.

“We were. It was the hardest thing to lose her.” She said.

“I suppose it would be.” I was at a complete loss as to what I should say. I don’t know anything about mothers. Katara seemed to notice my odd wording. I decided to elaborate. 

“I never had a mother. So I wouldn’t understand what it is like to lose one. Though, I don’t envy you. I can at least imagine it would be similar to the pain I’d feel if Raijin died.” My chest ached at the thought. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” I said. 

“I’m sorry you couldn’t experience having a mother. Though this Raijin sounds very important to you. What’s it like being raised by a spirit?” She asked. She seemed very curious. I thought back to all the silly things Raijin did as he simultaneously learned about humans and how to be a parent, and laughed. Just as I was about to respond, I felt a very strong force trying to pull me into the spirit world.

“Aang!” Katara yelled as all the avatar statues began to glow. She started to run out of the Sanctuary and I tried to follow. But, as she turned the corner, my legs gave out beneath me and I was in the spirit world before my body even hit the floor. 

_ I see Aang. He is in the avatar state in a room full of skeletons. Fire nation soldiers and a monk… Monk Gyatso! I saw Katara trying to say something to Aang but I couldn’t hear what it was she was saying. _

_ “Aang… don’t let rage consume your being. We are here with you. For you. You are not alone. We are your family now!” I yelled to Aang while in the spirit world.  _

“We are your family now!” Katara yelled at the same time I did. Just before everything went black, I saw Aang descend to the ground and Katara hugging him.

“Nira! Why are you napping?” I woke up to Sokka poking my face with his boomerang. 

“AHH!” I screamed, startled.

“AGH!” Sokka also screamed, startled by my scream. I looked around before panicking.

“Where’s Aang?! Is he okay?” I questioned. 

“I’m right here. Thank you for what you said.” Aang came out from behind Sokka. I ran up to him giving him a big hug. This wouldn’t be the last time that he experienced the pain of losing someone important to him. He had a lot of struggling to endure. 

“I meant every word of it. All of you are my family now, whether you like it or not!” I laughed as Aang hugged me back. Then Katara joined in the hug, pulling Sokka in with her. Then the lemur flew on top of my head. Aang gently picked up the lemur.

“You’ll be the newest member of our family!” Aang said.

“What are you going to name him?” Katara asked. 

“Momo.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was a really long chapter but I really wanted to get things rolling. Next chapter she gets to come face to face with Zuko!


	3. The Kyoshi Warriors

**Nira P.O.V.**

We were all flying on Appa as Sokka was looking at a map, I was meditating next to Sokka, and Katara was sewing a hole in his pants closed. Land was nowhere in view.

“You have no idea where you're going, do you?” Sokka asked Aang. I opened my eyes and looked over Sokka’s shoulder at the map. Grimacing, I determined that he was probably right. 

“Weeelll, I know it's near water…” Aang answered. I looked at Sokka, giving him a look that practically said “we’re doomed.”

“I guess we're getting close then.” Sokka flatly said to Aang. I chuckled at his sarcasm, which caught him off guard and caused him to blush. I just smiled warmly at him before returning to my meditation. 

_ Flirting is fun… _

“Momo, marbles please.” Aang requested. Momo brought him the marbles he requested. “Hey Katara! Check out this airbending trick!” Aang said, smiling eagerly. This made me open my eyes again to see what was happening. He then started to spin the marbles in mid-air whilst smiling widely at Katara. I was thoroughly impressed! But Katara didn’t even look up from her sewing.

“That's great, Aang.” Katara said, absentmindedly. 

“You didn't even look.” Aang said dejectedly. Katara stopped sewing.

“That's great!” She said looking at Aang. Aang’s frown deepened. 

“But I'm not doing it now.” Aang’s expression was all mushy looking and it totally broke my heart. His crush on Katara was so cute!

“Well, Aang, I for one thought it was amazing! Really! I bet you could use a similar technique to whip air into cream or egg whites! Plus, it looks really cool!” I said, trying to cheer Aang up.

“Thanks, Nira.” Aang said smiling at me. I smiled back gently, though I was internally squealing.

_ OH MY GOSH HE’S ADORABLE! _

“Stop bugging her, airhead. You need to give girls space when they do their sewing.” Sokka said whilst waving off the entire scene that just played out. Katara and I glared daggers at him. 

“What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?” Katara asked.

“Yeah,  _ Sokka _ , what does that have to do with sewing?” I dared him to answer. Sokka just rolled his eyes, causing Katara and I to get even more annoyed. Though I managed to stay outwardly calm, I could tell I was mad because I could hear a very faint rumble of a distant thunder. 

“Simple: girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things.” Sokka stated, matter of factly. The thunder got a little closer and the wind picked up for a second, but then I took a deep breath. 

“Katara, how would you like your brother? Medium rare or well done?” I looked towards her with an emotionless face and ball of flame in my hand. Katara laughed as I stopped bending the fire, and she threw the pants at Sokka.

“Dressed in tattered clothes is my preference. There, Sokka! All done sewing your pants! And look at what a great job I did!” Katara grinned wickedly. 

“Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these! Katara! Please!!” Sokka begged. My anger was completely gone now and I was just laughing at him. 

“OH you totally deserve that!” I laughed. Sokka just dejectedly looked at me through the hole in his pants, causing me to laugh even more. 

“How did you even manage to get a hole in this spot?” I said as I brought my head to where the hole was as he was still holding up the pants. He quickly dropped the pants, making an annoyed/embarrassed expression. Noticing the proximity of our faces I pulled away quickly with a bright blush on my face. 

“Don't worry, Sokka. Where we're going, you won't need any pants!” Aang shouted gleefully. I raised an eyebrow at this statement. 

_ What kind of a place doesn’t need pants? No way a twelve year old monk is going to those kinds of places!!! _

We landed pretty soon after that. Katara, finishing up the sewing on the way. Getting off of Appa, we all got set up. I couldn’t help but feel like we were being watched. My gut feeling is usually right on stuff like that too. Raijin taught me to always be on guard when in a new place and how to pick up on another presence. I could definitely sense something nearby. Maybe multiple. Now that I knew they were here, I put on my metal knuckles and listened for anything strange. 

_ Rustling in the bushes… and faint whispers. I believe feminine whispers? Well, now that I know their location, I at least have the upperhand. Darn good thing I’m skilled in combat.  _

“We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out” Sokka asked. 

“He's right. At this rate we won't get to the North Pole until spring.” Katara added. 

“Yeah, Aang. We really should leave this island.” I threw in while keeping an ear on the bushes. If I directly look at them, they will definitely attack knowing that their cover was blown. 

“But Appa's tired already, aren't you boy? I  _ said _ , aren't you boy?” Aang said, and Appa yawned on cue. I rolled my eyes and laughed lightly.

_ Well they are quite the troublesome bunch, huh? _

“Yeah, that was  _ real _ convincing. Still, hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster.” Sokka said. 

“Oh I’m sure you could find a way.” I said with my eyebrow raised at him. He was about to argue back but realised he would be proving my point. This of course caused me to roar in laughter.

“LOOK!” Aang yelled, shocking me out of my laughter. I looked to where he was pointing and saw a gigantic koi fish. “Thats why we’re here...” Aang started to strip down to his underwear. “... elephant koi. And I’m gonna ride it. Katara, you’ve gotta watch me!” Aang then dove straight into the water. 

“COLD!!!” he yelled. Sokka looked at me and twirled his finger next to his head symbolizing that Aang was crazy. I lightly chuckled and smiled. 

“He looks pretty good out there.” Katara said to Sokka as she watched Aang ride the elephant koi. I raised my eyebrows and looked away from her. 

“Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work.” Sokka responded. Just then Katara ran off to try to get Appa to stop eating something. Just then I heard a gasp next to me. 

“There's something in the water!” Sokka yelled.

“What's wrong?” Katara asked upon her return.

“Aang's in trouble.” Sokka responded.

“Aang!” I yelled. All three of us continued yelling for him. The elephant koi were starting to get pulled under water. But I heard more rustling from the bushes and started to prepare myself for them to jump out. All of a sudden Aang had run back to shore at top speed, knocking down Sokka in the process. 

“What was that thing?” Katara asked Aang. 

“I don’t know” he answered. 

“Well let’s not stick around to find out. Time to hit the road!” Sokka said. Just as he said it, the bushes rustled violently as a bunch of female warriors tried to ambush us. Successfully subduing Aang, Sokka, Katara, and momo. Due to me knowing about them well in advance, I easily jumped out of the way. They all came at me though and didn’t hold back. As I dodged them, I quickly noted that none of them were bending. The way they fought with their fan was as if it was an extension of their arm. Well, that made the end of their attack slightly weak if I hit the fan right. On top of that, their fan only acts as a small shield from light impact blows or weapons. They won't be able to easily shield my punches. With this knowledge, I went in to attack. 

_ Lets see if I can get away without bending. _

As a girl tried to sweep my feet, another tried to do a direct attack with her fan. I jumped up, dodging the lower attack. As I was up in the air, I spun my body and kicked the fan out of the other girls hand and landed behind her. From there a girl with short brown hair came at me, but I threw the girl (who’s fan I just kicked away) at her. Others came to attack, but I blocked a lot of their attacks with punches. Then the girl with the short brown hair got up and came at me while I was dodging other people. This time she managed to quickly get a large sack over my head as others made quick about tying up my hands and feet. I could firebend and surprise them, but my gut is telling me that would be a really bad idea. So, I let them take me. It was a good fight at least. I was just out numbered. 

When the sack over my head was removed, I was tied up with the others to a large pole. The women who ambushed us had surrounded us, looking a little worse for wear. I grinned that I at least put up a good fight. 

_ Raijin would be proud! _

“You four have some explaining to do.” A chunky grey haired old man said. 

“And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi.” The warrior with the short brown hair added. 

“Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?” Sokka asked. I sighed.

“You idiot…  _ They  _ ambushed us.” I groaned. 

“Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?” The warrior demanded.

“Wait a second, there's no way that a bunch of girls took us down.” Sokka was in denial. I rolled my eyes.

“They took you down rather easily. I had to sit and fight them off myself. They are very skilled warriors, Sokka! You could learn a thing or two from them.” I huffed. 

“You should listen to your friend.” The warrior added. 

“Pah! You’re tellin’ me…” I laughed. 

“There is just no way I can believe a bunch of girls are the people who ambushed us!” Sokka started up again.

“A bunch of girls, huh? The unagi's gonna eat well tonight.” The warrior threatened. 

“No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it. My brother is just an idiot sometimes.” Katara panickingly blurted out. 

“It's my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi.” Aang admitted.

“How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far. And we intend to keep it that way!” The old man pointed at us, accusingly. 

“Kyoshi?” I asked, excited. 

“This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!” Aang blurted.

“Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries.” The old man scoffed. 

“I know her because I'm the Avatar.” Aang admits.

“That's impossible! The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago.” The female warrior shouted. 

“That's me!” Aang smiles. 

“THrow the imposter to the unagi!” The warrior commands. 

“Aang, quick, do some air bending!” I whisper-shout. Aang, then, air bends his way out of the ropes and over the pole. 

“You are the avatar!” The old man says, astounded. 

“Now check this out!” Aang then does his marble trick, causign the crowd to go wild and for some dude to foam at the mouth. 

_ Yucky… _

The villagers set us up in an inn of some sort and gave us a really wonderful room. Sokka had pouted all night about being taken down by a bunch of girls, while Katara and I were giggling about his pouting. Aang was getting special treatment from the villagers, a lot of the younger girls especially. 

“All right! Dessert for breakfast!” Aang excitedly stuffs his face. “These people sure know how to treat an avatar.”

“Sokka, seriously get over it and just eat already!” I said, waving a pork bun in his face. “What? Do you need me to feed you? Alright then. Open wide! Tweet tweet” I started making bird noises as I made the pork bun ‘fly’ towards his mouth. He just glared at me, but still took a bite. 

“PFFFFT! I didn’t think you’d actually do that!” I was rolling on the floor, gripping my sides as I laughed. 

“UGH THEY JUST SNUCK UP ON ME!” Sokka yelled.

“Yeah and then they kicked your butt.” Katara added, smugly. 

“Sneak attacks don't count!” Sokka whined as he walked off with food in his mouth, mumbling nonsense. I sighed. While Sokka was cute and funny, I don’t think I would ever be able to put up with this side of him. 

_ But it's still fun to make him get all flustered and flirt with him.  _

“Well, I’m going to go and meditate on the beach.” I say getting up. Eventually later in the day, Aang came to the beach with a bunch of young girls, hoping to ride the Unagi. It never showed. Soon all the girls left.

“Looks like you got stood up!” I joked, referring to the Unagi. Then Katara showed up. 

“Katara! You came!” Aang said excitedly. 

“I wanted to make sure you were safe. You really had me worried.” Katara said, but I knew she was slightly jealous deep down. It’s written all over her face.

“Back there you acted like you didn’t care” Aaang said. 

_ Oh she cared… _

“I'm sorry.” Katara apologized. 

“Me too. I did let all that attention go to my head. I was being a jerk.” Aang also apologized. 

“I did nothing wrong.” I said. I was ignored. 

“Well, get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!” Katara says affectionately. I giggled to myself.

_ This is getting sappy. _

“On my way!” Aang yelled. Just then, Aang’s date, the unagi showed up. They tussle, but in the end Aang gets thrown into the water and resurfaces unconscious. Katar manages to reach him before the unagi and waterbends them both to safety. Then a metal ship lands at the beach. Fortunately, Katara and Aang are hidden. 

“I want the avatar alive!”

_ That voice! It’s the scarred prince! _

I follow him into the village.

“Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!  _ (to his men) _ Find him.” The prince shouts. His men started setting fire to buildings as they searched and fought off kyoshi warriors. At that point I stepped in. I bended a small flame into my hand, then bended the fire from the buildings into it before launching it at the prince who just barely managed to dodge it.

“You should really hire men with better aim! They’re going to burn down the entire village!” I shouted at him. My heart was racing and I had butterflies in my stomach. 

_ Why am I so damn nervous?! Or am I excited?  _

“UGHHH DAMMIT!” I shouted. The prince got up and we both got into a stance. He shot flames at me, but his movements were predictable. Just before he would attack, he’d get a weird look on his face like he was summoning rage. His fighting was sloppy and needed work. It’s too immature and impatient. I easily ended up knocking him down. 

“Leave.” I stood over him with my fist aimed at his face. 

“I’m not going anywhere without the avatar!” He then smirked at me. Right as he did that I felt a sudden increase in temperature on my right side as I was blasted off of him. When I looked back I saw an old man helping him up. I needed to be more direct. Just as I was about to shoot lightning, the old man grabbed my two fingers and redirected it. 

“What?” I breathed as I watched them run off.

“...WHAT?!” I yelled. But I noticed that Aang and the others were getting ready to leave on Appa. Once I joined them, we took off. As we ascended, I had a vision. 

_ The scarred prince… I’m with him on his ship. The old man is there too. I’m comforting the prince after he comes back from somewhere in a blue mask. I know something the old man doesn’t  _

_ “You did the right thing” I hear myself say. _

_ “Thanks, Nira…” the vision begins to go blurry.  _

My vision fades from blue light into reality. I have to leave with the prince, he is the one I need to guide. 

“I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed. They're going to be okay, Aang.” I hear Katara’s voice.  _ So his name is Zuko... _ I look at Aang and then to the village on fire. I know what he’s going to do. I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. 

“Aang, I’ll do it. There’s not much time, but I just had a vision and there’s something I need to do. You need to leave without me. I have to leave as Zuko’s prisoner and gain his trust. We’ll meet again soon.” I looked back at them, Katara and Sokka were shocked and already about to protest, but Aang understood. Then, I jumped. 

In the water, I find the unagi and grip onto its whiskers. The unagi then breaks the surface of the water and starts spitting water. Using the grip I have on it’s whiskers, I aim the water towards the village and put out the fires. After that, I’m suddenly in the air and quickly approaching the ground. Sending out a large blast of fire from my limbs, I manage to slow my descent enough to where I don’t die or break anything. But, I can’t move. My body is denying me access to the controls. Zuko walks up to my body.

“Take her on board. She’s our new prisoner.” Then my vision went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about skipping the meat of this episode but it's still like 3000 words long and I didn't to make her jealous of suki with sokka since this is a zuko romance. Sooooo I kinda just made her flirty with Sokka, and then tiem skipped to zuko lol. Either way I hope y'all can still enjoy it.


	4. Imprisoned-not

_ “Zuko, what do you plan to do with her as your prisoner?” An older man with a grey beard and hair asked.  _

_ “She will lead me to the avatar. She knows his plans.” Zuko responded. _

_ “She will not give up easily, Zuko. You can’t beat her in a one-on-one fight either.” The old man states.  _

_ “Well it’s a good thing I have a crew of firebenders then, isn’t it?” _

**Nira p.o.v.**

I felt something wet on my forehead, tensing at the sudden contact. Pain shot through my body as I tensed, causing me to wince. I opened my eyes, seeing the old man from my dream. 

“Oh you’re awake!” The old man looked surprised. As I started to get up, he put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. 

“Don’t get up yet. You need rest. You had quite the fall! Here, at least drink this before you try to move again.” He poured me a cup of tea. From the smell I could tell it was herbal. It smelled heavily of ginger, a great pain reliever. Other notes were there too. Lemon grass, jasmine, and hemp.

“Thank you.” I said, taking the cup. My voice was rough and my throat dry. Quickly, I gulped down the tea. “Who are you?”

“I could ask you the same thing!” the old man laughed. “My name is Iroh.” he smiled, pouring me another cup of tea.

“My name is Nira. Thank you, again, for the tea.” I poured the tea down my parched throat. 

“It’s my pleasure! It’s not every day that I get to take care of such a lovely lady!” Iroh laughed. I chuckled a little at his compliment, but stopped as it hurt to laugh. Though, it hurt less than before. 

“This is still a fairly nice treatment to give to a prisoner, though.” I said. 

“About that, you don’t have to be a prisoner you know.” I raised my eyebrow at Iroh’s words before shaking my head.

“I do though. I’m not going to help you guys track down the avatar, nor will I strike against him or the others. Aang, Sokka, and Katara are all my friends.” I looked him directly in the eyes. “I refuse to strike down a friend.” My gaze was fierce, and my determination unshakeable. His eyes were wide before he burst out laughing.

“I never thought you would!” He laughed. “But perhaps you could continue my nephews training.” I furrowed my brows, confused. “Allow me to explain. I saw you and my nephew back on Kyoshi Island. You are very skilled!” He exclaimed. My eyes widened in realization.

“You! You stopped my lightning!!” I pointed at him, my expression showing my utter astonishment.

“Well of course I did! You were aiming it at Zuko.” He laughed. “You should be careful. If I didn’t stop it, you would have killed him.” His expression turned serious.

“No. I wouldn’t have. I was aiming  _ near  _ him. Not at him. I have no intentions of killing anyone.” I admitted. Iroh shook his head.

“Lightning is very unpredictable. It doesn’t always land where you aim it.” He said knowingly. Now I shook my head.

“It does for me.” I laughed. “I have better control over lightning than I do fire, and I’m pretty savvy with fire!” I conjured lightning in my hand and shaped it into a teapot. “See? I can even make art with it. Oh watch this!” I quickly made the lightning into a crude likeness of an angry Zuko and turned to Iroh with a wild grin on my face. His eyes went from shock to amusement as we both roared in laughter. Iroh calmed down and faced me.

“I mean it though. Please teach Zuko. I think you would have me beat if we were to battle. You have great control over lightning. That of which I have never seen before. But your firebending is nothing to scoff at either. You are accurate and efficient. You wait for the right moment before you strike, and you fire with a calm and resolute mind and body. While I am not unable to do these things, I was raised to bend a different way. You learned to bend this way originally, and are therefore best to teach it.” Iroh looked at me waiting for an answer. 

_ I have to guide Zuko towards the right path anyways. What better position than as his teacher? _

“Okay. I will do it. But, he has to agree to it, and I would like to no longer have to sleep in chains.” I said as I rattled the chains on my ankles. Iroh chuckled and nodded in agreement to my conditions. Just then one of the crew mates entered. 

“We just got news on the avatar’s whereabouts!” He said before Iroh dismissed him. Iroh took the chains off of my ankles. I then noticed that I was in different clothes.

“Um… where are my clothes?” I asked. 

“They are over there on the bed. We had them washed. They were pretty grimy after your fall.” Iroh stated.

“Oh okay. Thank you. Where’s the bathroom? I wish to wash up a bit before joining you on the deck.”

“Just across the hall.” He said as he got up to leave. I entered the bathroom, and got ready to bathe, locking the door behind me. 

**Zuko’s P.O.V.**

“Zuko, you found the avatar?” uncle asked as he came up beside me. 

“He was spotted recently at a prison in the earth kingdom. One that was under control of the fire nation. We are headed there to see if he is still in the area.” I paused for a second as I remembered the roars of laughter coming from the prisoners cell. “You shouldn’t get familiar with the prisoner. You can’t just go being friends with the avatar’s allies!” I said, annoyed. 

“Well funny you should mention her! Nira’s going to be your new bending teacher!” Iroh laughed. I was silent for a second in shock, before rage hit me. 

“WHAT?! I'M NOT LEARNING FROM THE ENEMY!” I shouted. 

“She is very skilled Zuko! More so than I, and especially you. She easily took you down on Kyoshi Island. Besides, while she won’t help you look for the avatar, if she passes even a little of her knowledge onto you, you would have a better chance of achieving your goals.” Iroh argued. I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. And she was more useful to me here, rather than on her own or with the avatar. I grumbled.

“I will agree to learning from her but she is still a prisoner.” I stated. Iroh shook his head. 

“She will not teach you in chains, Zuko. Nor will she allow herself to be chained up again.” Iroh said.

_ “Again?” _

“YOU UNCHAINED HER?! SHE’LL ESCAPE!” I yelled as I ran to the room we kept her in. Iroh yelled something but I didn’t hear him and continued. I reached her room but she was nowhere in sight. 

“She already escaped!” I turned and started to run down the hall before bumping into something, or rather someone. 

**Nira P.O.V.**

“Ouch!” I huffed after colliding with something. Thankfully I still managed to keep my towel on my as I looked up and saw Zuko, who was sitting on the floor.

“Why did you charge at me? This isn’t how you one up someone in battle.” I stated as I extended my arm towards him. 

“It wasn’t a battle strategy!” Zuko yelled as he took my hand and looked up at me. I pulled him up but he immediately turned around. 

“You shouldn’t walk around like that.” He mumbled. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Enemy ship, no armor. Really silly of me.” I joked. Zuko turned around glaring at me.

“I MEANT WALKING AROUND NAKED!!” He yelled. 

“I’m in a towel! And besides…” I pulled off my towel. Zuko instantly looked anywhere else. “I’M WEARING STUFF UNDERNEATH YOU BONEHEAD!” Zuko turned around to look at me. I was in my under-clothes (similar to a tube top and shorts). “I’m not an idiot. I know better than to go traipsing around naked on a ship full of men, especially when I’m the only woman on board.” I huffed as I put the towel around my neck. “Anyways. If you weren’t trying to fight me, then why on earth did you charge at me?” I asked, annoyed. Zuko suddenly got angry again at the reminder.

“You are still a prisoner! You need to be in chains to prevent escape!” He said as he grabbed my wrist leading me to my room. 

“Nope.” I yanked my arm back and him with it. Pinning him to the ground, face down. I held his hands behind his back. “Now, I am not going to be chained up. Call me prisoner if you want, but no chains.” I let him go and he jumped to a defence stance. I sighed. 

_ Getting him to trust me is going to prove troublesome.  _

“Zuko, why do you think I am here.” I asked him. My stance, relaxed. Zuko’s annoyance grew at what he believed to be a stupid question.

“Because I captured you and took you prisoner!” He yelled.

“Wrong.”

“What?!”

“I said you are wrong. I am here because I jumped off that bison knowing full well that I would be leaving Kyoshi Island on your ship. In fact, I planned on it. More than that, you could say I was fated to. Now I am going to propose something. I know that despite you hunting down Aang, and setting fire to things, and being over all unpleasant…” Zuko was getting ready to blow a fuse. “... that there is good in you.” I bore my gaze into him. “I know that you feel lost, and I know that you want to regain your honor.” Zuko locked his eyes with mine. “And I want to help you do that.” Zuko’s stern expression suddenly shaken into surprise. 

“You’ll help me capture the Avatar?” he asked, shocked. I stifled a laugh.

“Pft… No. I will help you regain your honor, though. That I promise. If I have not helped you regain your honor by this time next year, I will personally bring you the avatar. Until then, I will not touch him on your behalf. Do we have a deal?” Zuko thought for a second. 

“There is no way for me to regain my honor without the avatar.”

“Is that a challenge?” I smirked.

“You will help me hunt him if I haven’t regained my honor within a year?” He inquired.

“Yes.”    
  
“Well, better my honor gained later than never. I don’t see you winning this bet.” He smirked, obviously confident in him winning. 

_ Well this is one step closer to getting him to trust me. _

“So it’s a deal then?” I asked. 

“Deal.” Zuko stuck out his hand to shake on it. I took his hand and shook it, but he pulled me close. “But when you fail, you will bring me the avatar and I will end up on top.” I smirked at me. 

_ How cute. _

“Oh really? You think you will end up on top? That’s a rather bold claim considering your loss against me on Kyoshi Island.” I smirked back at him before going to my room to get changed. Zuko just stormed off in the direction of the deck. 

After getting changed, I walked up to the deck. Iroh was sitting at a small table with a cup of tea and a rice bowl. Making my way over to him, I spotted Zuko pacing up near the front of the deck. I smirked.

_ Heh… I definitely got under his skin.  _

“Hello Iroh!” I smiled at him. “Do you know how long it will be before we land?” I asked. 

“Oh hello Nira!” He smiled. “The captain told me it would be about an hour. Would you like a cup of tea?” He asked. I shook my head.

“No, thank you though. But I think I may have riled Zuko up too much.” I laughed. Iroh chuckled a little bit as he looked at his pacing nephew. 

“He certainly does look tense!” Iroh laughed. 

“I agree. Perhaps he can blow off a little steam by training.” I smirked.

“An excellent idea!” Iroh chuckled. Fixing my sights on Zuko, I made my way over to him. Sneakily making my steps fall in sync with his. I went unnoticed, even as I was right behind him. Paying extra attention to his feet, I would take notice of which way they would twist, as to avoid being seen as he turned in his pacing. In the middle of his stride, I got right behind him. 

“Zuko” I whispered. Zuko spun around, sucking in air in surprise. Hastily, he regained his posture. 

“Prisoner.” He muttered as the corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. I feigned a gasp.

“That’s Sifu Prisoner to you!” I retorted. Iroh chuckled into his tea cup. Zuko just rolled his eyes and groaned, though I saw a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. 

“I am not calling you Sifu,” Zuko stated.

“Then the least you can do is call me by my name.” I smiled. 

“Fine… Nira.” Zuko glanced to the side, obviously annoyed. His body was tense as he waited for my response. 

“Okay first try to relax.” I said. Zuko looked at me incredulously. 

“What?! Why would I relax in a battle.” He barked.

“Well, you wouldn’t. I just wanted to see if you were capable of it.” I laughed. Zuko’s anger looked ready to boil over, but I spoke up before he could.

“You do however, want to remain calm. Relaxing leads to a state where you are calm, does it not? I want you to become familiar with that state. When you are calm, you can strategize easily in the middle of battle. An important key to victory is strategy.” I stated. Zuko calmed down a bit, but he was still annoyed. 

“I thought you were going to teach me bending, not battle strategies.” He growled. I shook my head.

“It is a part of it. Show me your defence stance.” Zuko got into a position of defense. It was near perfect. 

“You did a good job, Iroh!” I yelled as I walked a circle around Zuko.

“Very good. Near perfect, Zuko,” I stated. Zuko furrowed his brows. 

“Near?” he asked, raising a brow. 

“Straighten your back.” I ordered. Zuko attempted to fix his stance, but messed it up more. Walking up to him, I gripped his shoulders and pushed them back. Now facing him I kept my hands on his shoulders. I looked down to his knees, then back up at him. I then noticed his expression. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows raised. 

“What's wrong? Is this posture painful?” I asked looking up at him. 

“Uh, no.”

“Okay, good. Then bring your front foot forward slightly…” He began to slide his foot forward. “There! Stop there.” I said as I pushed his shoulders back again. “Don’t bend your shoulders forward. Now bend your knees until you are level with me.” My eyes locked with his as he bent his knees, finally becoming level with me. I leaned forward barely a hair. Zuko’s eyes grew wide and a blush formed on his cheeks. 

“I told you not to bend your shoulders.” I frowned as I pushed his shoulders back again. Zuko’s blush grew hotter but his expression twisted into a frown, mirroring my own. I shook my head. 

“It’s fine. It’s just a bad habit. I’ll force it out of you given time. Now hold that stance.” Letting go of his shoulders, I walked back to my original spot across from him. 

“Now what?” He asked, his voice dripping with annoyance. 

“Now, defend yourself.” I shot a blast of flames at his feet which he quickly evaded.

“Good! Now watch my face as I attempt to strike you. Look for any clues that tell you when I am going to strike. I won't actually strike you, so don't worry.” Zuko got back into the defence stance as I shot a blast just past his right shoulder. “Now what did you see?”

“You looked at my shoulder.”

“Well, that at least tells you where I would likely shoot. But did I give any indication on my face that I was going to attack?” I asked

“No, not on your face. But you got into a bending stance. So I knew you would attack.” I nodded to his answer.

“In most battles, that is indeed a good indicator. However, a good strategy is to bluff. A lot of enemies will attack you with bluffs. In order to defend yourself against those types of attacks, you need to be able to read their face. It is the first place that will give away whether or not they are bluffing. Try to do a bluff attack on me, Zuko.” I got into the same stance of defence. Zuko came at me, getting into a bending position with his arm ready to strike. His expression was normal. I didn’t dodge this one. Zuko then, twisted on his heel and kicked out his right leg towards me, his face twisting to one of anger as fire propelled itself out of his leg and towards me. However, I had already dodged it and was in a safe spot by the time the fire cast any light. 

“What gave it away?” Zuko asked, disappointed that his bluff failed. 

“Every time you bend, your face twists into rage,” I told him. Furrowing his eyebrows in frustration he sighed. 

_ He really hates failing. _

“It’s okay to fail sometimes. Zuko. It is a part of learning. And you did learn something here today, which in my books is a success.” I walked up to him and patted him on the back. “Also, your form was perfect when you got back into defense,” I smiled looking up at him. He raised a brow.

“You’re being awfully nice to me now,” He stated hesitantly. I took in a deep breath and exhaled. 

“Well, I’d rather not poke at you while you are feeling down.” Zuko’s eyebrows raised. 

“We’re here!” Iroh shouted at us. I looked over to him and then towards the huge metal rig.    
  
“This is where they imprisoned all the earth benders.” I heard one of the crew members say.    
  
“Yeah, but they all escaped thanks to the avatar,” Another sighed. I smiled, proud of my friends. But my smile vanished as soon as it appeared.

“Look what I found.” Zuko held up a necklace, smirking. It was Katara’s necklace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im curious as to what you guys think about this chapter as I brought out Nira's teasing side a little more. I do hope you enjoyed it though!


	5. The Winter Solstice Part One

**Nira P.O.V.**

It had been a couple weeks since I joined Zuko and his uncle Iroh. We were currently in the Earth Kingdom following a lead we have on the avatar’s whereabouts. After taking a short break to train, Zuko and I noticed that Iroh still had not returned.

“Where is he?!” Zuko yelled, obviously aggravated with his uncle. 

“Probably napping,” I laughed. Zuko glared at me before turning around to yell for his uncle. He continued to yell as I listened for a response. 

“Uncle! It's time to leave! Where are you? Uncle Iroh!” Zuko called out.

“Over here!” We both heard the jolly voice of the old man. Following the voice, we entered a clearing where Iroh was in a hot spring. 

“Well, he wasn’t napping,” I giggled, making Zuko groan.

“Uncle? We need to move on, we're closing in on the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him!” Zuko yelled, trying to urge his uncle to get moving. 

“You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles.” Iroh relaxed further into the water as he attempted to prolong his soak. I had to stifle my laugh.

_ Zuko would definitely benefit from letting loose a little in a hot spring. _

“My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!” Zuko snapped. 

“You really could use a relaxing soak, Zuko. You’re so tense when you fight.” I admitted, though my tone gave away that I was teasing him. 

“You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself.” Iroh shifts position slightly, puts his hands together and breathes steam from his nostrils, thus heating the water. Zuko swats away the cloud of steam Iroh made. 

“Enough! We need to leave now! Get out of the water!” Zuko yelled.

“Very well…” Iroh said as he began to rise out of the water. My eyes grew wide in shock from what I expected to witness. Thankfully, Zuko quickly covered my eyes with his hand and averted his own gaze. 

“On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes, but be back at the ship in half an hour or I'm leaving without you.” Zuko grumbled as he guided me away from Iroh. As he guided me away, his hand was at the small of my back pushing me onward. The sensation of the contact caused goosebumps to form on my skin, and an intense blush on my face. Zuko felt the heat from my blush on the hand that remained on my face. 

“Eh sorry. That was probably shocking for you.” He said referring to Iroh as he removed his hand from my face. He looked down at my blushing form, a light tinge of pink forming on his face too. I casually moved away from the contact of his hand that was on my back. 

“Uh yeah, I certainly wasn’t expecting him to be so bold.” I laughed nervously. “You must be hungry from our training! We should head back to the ship and have a small lunch while we wait for him.” I suggested, trying desperately to divert the attention anywhere that wasn’t my red face. Not waiting for him to respond I darted towards the ship. Zuko groaned and followed behind me.

“Ugh… Nira! Wait, I’m not hungry! Stop running.” Zuko yelled to me just as we got near the ship. I stopped running and turned to him with a smirk.

“Oh you’re not hungry, eh? Well then, you must have enough energy left to spar with me?” I challenged him. Zuko rolled his eyes before locking them with mine. Determination dominated his features as a smirk played its way onto his lips. 

“You’re on!” Zuko got into a fighting stance, accepting the challenge. 

“No bending! I’m testing you on hand to hand combat right now.” Zuko nodded, accepting the terms. Next thing I knew, he was lunging at me. As he came at me with his right fist, I quickly dodged to my left. Falling into step behind him, I managed to be right behind his back no matter what way he turned. Something I picked up from the airbenders. As he shifted his weight, I swiftly kicked the back of the knee he shifted his weight on. He lost his balance and fell, but turned around to kick me just as fast as he fell. 

“Heh-heh…” I chuckled as I narrowly dodged his quick comeback, but my laugh turned into an “oof” as I hit the ground with a thud. My foot was caught in some vines hidden by moss. Zuko looked at me and roared with laughter, holding his stomach. I turned red from embarrassment, but something else too…

_ His laugh is really nice… _

“Oh shush your laughing, and help me out of this!” I grumbled, struggling to free myself. Zuko tried to stifle his laughter as he cut the vines and extended his hand to me to help me up. Taking his hand, he pulled me up, but he started laughing again.

“Come on! It wasn’t that funny. I just fell,” I pouted while avoiding eye contact. Zuko was still chuckling.

“No, you have a bunch of leaves in your hair.” He started picking them out. 

_ This is so embarrassing! _

“Thanks, but I’ve got it from here.” I stepped out of his reach to pull the leaves out on my own. He looked surprised, but I don’t know if it was from how I reacted or if he suddenly became aware of the situation. He looked ever so slightly hurt that I backed away.

“You know…” I started, getting his attention. “...you have a really nice laugh, Zuko.” He looked very surprised now and he was definitely blushing. But he didn’t look happy, if anything he seemed upset by my comment. 

“Sorry, did that upset you?” I asked. Looking at me again, he spoke up.

“I shouldn’t be laughing like that. I should be capturing the avatar and restoring my honor, not messing around with you. Let's just get back to the ship.” He started walking back towards the ship, but I grabbed his arm stopping him for a second. He turned his head to glare at me, but stopped when he met my fierce gaze.

“You’re allowed to be happy too!” His glare softened into surprise at my outburst. Shaking away my frustration at his self loathing, I let go of his arm. Then I punched it lightly. “Besides, we weren’t messing around! We were training. But, you were right about one thing.” I gripped my stomach as he rubbed his arm. “We gotta get back to the ship… I’m really hungry!” I muttered, pretending I was malnourished. A small smile found its way onto his features.

“Then let’s get back to the ship and get some food,  _ prisoner _ .” He started to make his way back to the ship. Unlike when he first called me ‘prisoner’, this time, the word played on his tongue with fondness. I feigned a shocked expression.

“That’s Sifu Prisoner!” I yelled as I caught up to him. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head. As we got back to the ship, we noticed that Iroh still had not returned. We double checked with the crew before heading out to fetch him. One of the crew mates joined us. We made our way over to where Iroh was soaking in the hot springs, but he was gone.

“Uncle! Uncle, where are you?” Zuko yelled for Iroh.

“Sir, maybe he thought you left without him?” The crew mate suggested.

“Something's not right here.” Zuko’s voice was laced with concern.

“That pile of rocks…” I pointed to the strange formation of rocks that were where the hotsprings once were. 

“It looks like there's been a landslide, sir.” The crew mate offered up.

_ Dumb dumb… land doesn’t slide that way…  _

“Land doesn’t slide uphill.” Zuko stated, somewhat annoyed.

“Those rocks didn't move naturally.” I added in.

“My uncle's been captured by earthbenders!” Zuko shouted in realization. Zuko, the crew mate, and I all hurried back to the ship. Zuko grabbed one of his war rhinoceroses, and was about to head out. Running after him as fast as I could, I shouted for him.    
  


“Wait! I’m going with you!” I shouted. He came to a halt. Turning around, he looked like he was about to argue until he actually looked at my eyes. He then knew that there was no point in arguing. I was going with him. Zuko extended an arm and helped me up onto the rhinoceros, pulling me up to sit in front of him. His arms caged me in as he held onto the reins. 

“Sit back or you’ll fall off.” He stated. I leaned back a little, but he made a ‘tsk’ sound and pulled me into his chest so that I was leaning all the way back.    
  
“Um-” 

“I told you to sit back.” He grumbled, annoyed with my hesitation. We then took off to look for Iroh. I was relieved to not be facing Zuko. My blush was intense. 

As we continued our search for Iroh, the rhinoceros came to a stop to catch its breath. The stop took me by surprise as I lost my seating a bit. As I began to fall forward, Zuko wrapped one of his arms around my waist. 

“You are terrible at riding…” he scoffed. I gasped, offended. 

“I’ll have you know I’m great at riding!” I retorted. “I just normally have something to hold on to. Ya know, like fur or something.” I mumbled. The rhinoceros started to move again, momentum making my back sink further into Zuko. Trying to sit back up, I felt the arm that was around me tighten. 

“I’ve got you. You won’t fall again. But if it would make you feel better, you can hold onto my arm too.” He stated matter of factly. It’s like he doesn’t even understand how the situation looks. 

“What? I-I don’t need to hold your hand to feel bett- Whoa!” Just as I was going to refuse his offer the rhinoceros jumped over a fallen tree in the road, causing me to grip onto what was securing me the most… which happened to be Zuko’s arm. 

“What was that you were saying?” He smirked. I puffed out my cheeks in an obvious pout, causing him to chuckle silently. I felt his chest move with his laugh and his breath on the top of my shoulder. 

“W-whatever…” I looked away from him, blushing. My heart was racing like crazy and I could pretty much only focus on his touch. It of course didn’t help that my outfit left a decent portion of my abdomen exposed. Against my better judgment, I turned my head to look at his face. I didn’t expect to catch him doing the same. Both of us immediately turned our faces away from each other. A couple of tomatoes on a rhinoceros. Then I spotted something in the road. 

_ A sandal? _

“Zuko,” I called to him, pointing to the sandal in the road. 

“A sandal?” He questioned no one in particular as he got off the rhinoceros and picked up the sandal.

“Do you think it belongs to Iroh?” I asked. Zuko sniffed the sandal and wretched. 

“Yup, that's Uncle Iroh.” He stated confidently.

“Good that means we are going the right way. Are you prepared for a fight?”

I asked. Zuko looked up and smirked. 

“I’m always ready.” He cockily retorted. Getting back on the rhinoceros, Zuko took hold of the reins with his left hand, his right going back around my waist. Before he could say anything, I pressed my back against his chest preparing for the rhinoceros to take off. As it did, the hand around my waist tightened ever so slightly, causing my heart to race again. We continued like that for a while until I noticed a trail left by war ostriches. 

“Zuko look! There’s a trail!” I said excitedly pointing to the marks left in the dirt. However, when I looked up at Zuko, his gaze was fiery and locked onto the bison flying overhead. 

“The avatar!” Zuko breathes. He yanked on the reigns in the direction of Appa but stopped before looking at the trail. His expression showing his indecision. I lightly squeezed the hand of the arm that was around me, causing Zuko to shift his gaze towards me. 

“If we don’t save your uncle now, you might never see him again. You will have plenty of opportunities to catch the avatar.” I told him. He already knew I was right and I believe he was going to go after Iroh anyways, but I felt the urge to reassure him that it was the right thing to do. 

“I know…” he said shamefully. “But thank you for reassuring me.” He said, squeezing my hand lightly and pulling me closer. I could feel my face getting hot. 

“W-what are friends for?” I laughed out nervously. Zuko stared at me for a moment before smiling and looking ahead as the rhinoceros followed the trail.

“Good to know I have friends like you.” I felt his words reverberate in his chest as I leant against him. 

_ He feels so warm… _

“These dangerous hands must be crushed.” 

Zuko and I heard a voice coming from around the corner. We both immediately got off the rhinoceros and darted towards the voice. We saw a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers surrounding Iroh. One of which was bending a large rock over him, about to crush his hands. Zuko immediately rushed over and blasted the rock away with fire before it could harm his uncle. I followed behind him instantly. 

“Excellent form, Prince Zuko,” Iroh and I both complimented him simultaneously. 

“You both taught me well.” He said smugly. 

“Surrender yourselves, it's five against three. You're clearly outnumbered.” The leader of the Earth Kingdom soldiers shouted. Iroh, Zuko, and I got into position with our backs to each other, ready to defend against all attacks. 

“Uh, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched!” Iroh states.

All five earthbenders launched stones at us. Iroh swings his chains and breaks them into pieces mid-flight, while Zuko blasts the two nearest him with fire. I notice that the two soldiers behind Zuko have just shot two large rocks at him, and shoot lightning at the two rocks causing them to explode. 

Putting on my knuckles, I bend some lightning into them. One of the earth benders Zuko blasted earlier got up and charged at me. As he tried to strike me with his left fist, I kept watching his face. His eyes glanced ever so slightly to the side. Jumping back, I narrowly dodged a rock he had bended when he brought up his fist to attack. As fast as I dodged it, I leapt at him and pulled him into the electrified fist I swung at him. He went flying into the other earth bender that was just getting up, knocking them both out. Looking back at Zuko, I saw Iroh save him just in time from an attack by the earthbenders leader. All the earth benders were now groaning as they were buried in rubble. Zuko and Iroh smiled at each other. I could tell how relieved Zuko was. 

“Now would you please go put some clothes on!” Zuko shouted lovingly at his uncle. Iroh went to go change into his clothes that Zuko and I remembered to bring for him. Walking up to Zuko, I placed my hand on his shoulder.    
  


“You did well! Your form was great and so was your bending.” I praised him. Zuko blushed slightly before remembering something.    
  
“Thanks, but your lightning bending was really something else. I’ve only seen my father bend lightning that well, and even then I think you had more control.” He said, catching me off guard slightly before I laughed. 

“Well I would sure hope it’s good! I was raised by the thunder boar spirit after all!” I laughed. Zuko’s eyes practically bugged out of his skull, and Iroh who returned just in time to hear that was no different.   
  
“By what?!” They both asked, shocked. 

“Oh yeah I guess I never told you guys… Yeah I was pretty much raised by the Thunder Boar spirit in his shrine. I am a shrine maiden after all.” I said as I took out my cleansing talisman, bells, and flute.    
  
“You know, it kind of makes sense.” Iroh said as he rubbed his beard. “That explains why your lightning control isn’t comparable to any other human. You didn’t learn how to bend from a human.” Iroh nodded, agreeing with himself.    
  
“That explains why you teach like a monster too. You were basically taught by one!” Zuko teased. 

“Hah! You only know the half of it. But let’s get back to the ship. It’s almost dinner time!” I rubbed my belly as I headed towards the rhinoceros, but I stopped to think for a second.

_ I don’t think this poor guy can carry all three of us. I’ll just ‘borrow’ one of the ostriches.  _

“I’ll take one of the ostriches back. You two ride on the rhinoceros.” Iroh shouted. I was about to protest, but Zuko agreed immediately. 

“Don’t you want to ride back with your uncle?” I asked. Zuko’s cheeks turned slightly pink.

“I just don’t trust your riding abilities.” He defended. I rolled my eyes as I hopped on the rhinoceros, Zuko getting on behind me. Wrapping his arm around me, and the other one on the reins, we took off towards the ship. I looked over to Iroh who rode not far behind us. He for some odd reason looked way too smug, but I just brushed it off. Zuko pulled me closer to him, and I could tell his body was a little tense. 

  
“U-um, Iroh was, uh, really happy that you came along.” Zuko muttered. I looked up at him and noticed his red ears and cheeks as he bore his gaze to the road. I knew then and there that those sentiments were not from Iroh. For the first time that day, I relaxed into his embrace.    
  
“I’m sure he was.” I giggled, placing my hand on his. As I slowly drifted into sleep, I swear I felt someone's fingers entwined with my own; but perhaps I was already dreaming. 


	6. The Winter Solstice Part Two

_ The night sky sparkled while a warm summer breeze rustled the leaves of the trees. It was so warm. As I closed my eyes, this beautiful dream world became dark. What was once cool grass beneath my body, grew hot and dry. I opened my eyes to a different world. Red and burning. This world was dying. Nature turned to ash as metal and fire moved across the landscape. The once starry sky, now dominated by the blinding light of a comet.  _

_ “Sozin’s comet.” I turned around to a grim Avatar Roku, before he too blew away with the smoke in the wind.  _

**Nira P.O.V.**

* _ Knock knock*  _ I woke up with a start to the sound of knocking. Stumbling my way over to the door, I finally made it and opened it slightly. Just enough to glare at whoever woke me up. The poor ship doctor on the other side flinched under my harsh gaze. The hand he had raised to open the door dropped to his side.

“O-oh! You’re awake! That’s good news. How do you feel?” He asked. 

“Tired.” I yawned. Then I realized that I don’t remember getting back here.

“Wait! How did I get back?!” I started to panic just as another figure walked in through the doorway. It was Zuko, who looked a little relieved about something.

“Good to see you’re awake. Didn’t expect you to pass out in my arms on the way back.” Zuko smirked. I just groaned. 

“Who knew the fire prince would make such a comfortable cushion?” I joked. 

“So comfortable you refused to wake up. I even pinched you and yet, you stayed unconscious.” He stated. I just rolled my eyes as I walked past him.  _ Prophetic dreams tend to do that. _ I realized we were on open water.

“I take it we are following the avatar’s trail somewhere?” I asked, turning around to face Zuko. His face gave away his determination. 

“Yes. I will capture him.” 

“You look so angry when you’re determined… scratch that. You just look angry.” I laughed. Zuko frowned.

“Well sorry if I’m unpleasant to look at! I didn’t choose to have  _ this. _ ” He spat as he gestured to his scar, hurt evident on his face. The doctor decided now was the time for a hasty exit as he went back up onto the deck. I realized just what zuko meant as my eyes widened!

“Not like that, Zuko! I just meant you always seem angry. I’m really sorry that what I said came across like that.” He was turning away to walk out of the room, but I grabbed his arm.

“You are by no means unpleasant to look at!” I said as I averted my gaze. He looked skeptical. His eyes bore down on me, more golden than they seemed yesterday. 

“You’re lying. You can’t even look at me now as you say that.” I felt him try to leave again. Swallowing my pride, I gripped his arm a little more.

“Z-Zuko, y-you’re really h-handsome!” I blurted out, stuttering, but I made sure to say it to his face. His golden eyes met my fierce blue ones, looking for any hint of a lie. Instead, Zuko found himself staring at a tomato.

“...Oh. I, uh-” Zuko started but I interrupted him.

“You don't have to respond! I only want to know you believe I am sincere when I say it.” I sighed, now exhausted from being so embarrassed. I let go of his arm and began to make my way towards my bed, wanting to just drown in it. However, I stopped when a hand found my shoulder. Turning around, I saw it belonged to Zuko. 

“I believe you, Nira. and… I, uh…” he seemed to be struggling to find the right words for something. “... you are also handsome!” He blurted out. After a moment's pause, what he said finally sunk in. All of my energy returned and I found myself crying with laughter. Zuko was confused by my reaction.

“Handsome? You *pfft* find me handsome?!” I roared in laughter. “Normally, people just say I'm pretty or beautiful. Handsome is a new one!” I laughed, wiping away my tears. Zuko now turned pink, getting a little angry from his embarrassment. 

“Ugh! I meant pretty! You’re pretty!” Zuko grumbled as he stomped his way out of my room and onto the deck. 

As Zuko stormed off, embarrassed, I made my way to the kitchen to get a rice bowl and a small pot of jasmine tea. As I was waiting for my water to boil, I began to eat my rice bowl. All of a sudden I heard shouting coming from the deck. Turning off the flame underneath the kettle, as to not cause a fire, I made my way out to the deck with my rice bowl and chopsticks in hand. 

“Whuhtz goin’ on?” I said with a mouthful of food, but no one heard me. I then noticed the flying bison up above us, the surprise causing me to choke on my huge mouthful of food. My cheeks puffed up as I hit my chest with my fist. 

**Sokka’s P.O.V. on appa**

Looking over the edge of the saddle, I can see Zuko’s ship. Then I noticed the mass of flaming orange-red hair. It was definitely Nira, walking freely on the deck. 

“Nira?! Well I guess she’s not a prisoner anymore… but why is she hitting herself?” I asked no one in particular. 

**Nira P.O.V.**

As I hit myself trying to dislodge the food, a crew mate noticed and gave me a cup of tea he had been sipping. Quickly I chugged the tea and the food dislodged. 

“Tahhhh! Thank you!” I gave him back his empty cup and slapped him on the back before making my way over to Iroh and Zuko. Before I could get to them, Iroh was shouting at Zuko. 

“Sailing into Fire Nation waters... of all the foolish things you have done in your 16 years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish.” Iroh shouted in frustration. 

“But I have no choice, uncle!”

“Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?!?!? What if you're caught?” Iroh said, worried. Thankfully I didn’t take another bite of my food, otherwise I would have choked from shock again. 

“You’re banished?!” The two looked at me just as a couple grains of rice that were stuck to my face fell off. 

“Good, maybe you can talk some sense into him!” Iroh stated. 

_ Hah… that, my good sir, is impossible.  _

“I'm chasing the Avatar. My father will understand why I'm returning home.” Zuko defended as he turned back around to look through his spyglass. 

“You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type.” Iroh shook his head. I wiped my face and gave my rice bowl to a crew member to hold, then walked up to Zuko and put a hand on his shoulder. He tensed for a second then relaxed.

“Zuko, we won’t win if forced to fight the fire-nation right now. I highly doubt their borders are unguarded.” I told him. He seemed to think for a second until he looked back up at Appa. “Please, we need to turn around now.” Zuko furrowed his eyebrows and gently took my hand off his shoulder. 

“No. I have to do this.” Zuko said as he looked into my eyes. I could see the resolve gimmering in his golden eyes. With a sigh, I backed away. Zuko turned back to the spyglass, then towards the helmsman.

“There they are! Helmsman, full steam ahead!” Zuko shouted. Crew mates then started to roll out a catapult with a very stinky ball of dirt and flammable oil. 

“Really, Prince Zuko, couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?” Iroh said, fanning the air around him. Zuko shoots a blast of fire at the projectile, igniting it.

“On my mark.........Fire!” Zuko commanded. The fire ball is launched into the air straight towards Appa. Thankfully, the swerve out of the way just at the right moment.

_ He could have killed them! I really have a lot more guiding to do with this one.  _

“Zuko, you could have killed them!” I shouted. Zuko just groaned. But his eyes then widened as we progressed further towards the Fire Nation waters. 

“A blockade!” Zuko shouts. My eyes widen then as I see the rows of large Fire Nation Navy ships guarding their border. 

“Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters. Turn back now and they cannot arrest you.” Iroh states, hoping Zuko will listen.

“He’s right Zuko. We still have a chance right now. If we progress, we will be killed or captured.” I tried to argue, but Zuko just turned around and glared at Iroh and I. 

“He's not turning around.” Zuko states, bitterly. 

“Please Prince Zuko, if the Fire Nation captures you, there is nothing I can do. Do not follow the Avatar.” Iroh pleads as Zuko goes back up to the spyglass to look through it. I go up to him and place my hand next to his on the spyglass, causing him to look up. 

“Zuko, please. We can’t take them all out.” I said, but Zuko ignored me and tried to look through the glass again. Sliding my hand over and onto his, he finally locked his gaze with mine. “Please, I don’t want to see you get hurt.” I begged. Zuko bowed his head slightly.

“I’m sorry, both of you.” Zuko turned his head to the helmsman. “Run the blockade!” he commanded. I let my hand slip from his, leaving him to simply watch as I walked away. 

“I’m sorry I just don’t have that kind of influence on him.” I whisper to Iroh as I go to stand by him. Iroh placed his warm hand on my shoulder and chuckled.

“You have more of an influence on him than you know. He is just stubborn.” Iroh comforts me. Just then, the blockade fires a bunch of projectiles at Appa, but they miss and are on a collision course with us! One goes into the water right beside the ship causing a wave to sweep the deck. Another hits the back of the ship damaging the engines. 

“Prince Zuko, the engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!” The engine master informed Zuko.

“Do not stop this ship.” Zuko commands. Two more waves of fire balls were launched, but somehow we managed to avoid them. We began to approach the blockade.

“We're on a collision course!” Iroh shouted. 

“We can make it!” Zuko shouted back confidently. I went up to him and grabbed his sleeve.

“Are you crazy?! No we can’t!” But Zuko ignored me. Just as we were to collide, the ships stopped their engines, letting us through. As I still held onto Zuko’s sleeve, internally seething that he didn’t turn around, I noticed the commander of the blockade and Zuko were glaring at each other. The commander then looked to me, raising his eyebrow in question. We soon passed the blockade and were in fire nation territory. We continued to sail after the avatar, wondering why we weren’t arrested. 

“What's he up to, Uncle? Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?” Zuko asks.

“Because he wants to follow you. He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after...the Avatar.” Iroh responds.

“If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do.” Zuko stated. He then looked at me. 

“What are you going to do?” Zuko asked, his gaze scrutinizing. 

“What do you mean? In what context?” I asked. 

_ I can do many things, angry boy.  _

“When I try to capture the avatar, what will you do?” He asked again. I took a moment to think about how to respond. He was getting impatient. “Well?” he spat.

“As I stated when I first joined you. I will not help you capture Aang. I will protect him from you if I think you will take things too far.” I stated as Zuko began to get angry. “But I will also do the same for you. Unlike when I first joined you, I now consider you a friend. I will have your back should someone attack you. If I think Aang, Sokka, or Katara are going to injure you, I will stop them. The same way I would stop you in the reverse situation. I will always have your back, Zuko.” Zuko’s harsh glare softened as he just looked at me. “Oh and you too, Iroh! I will have your back as well!” I grinned as Iroh laughed. 

As we sailed I leant on the bars at the front of the deck, thinking about what it was I would do. I meant what I said to Zuko, but I had no idea how I would actually carry it out. Knowing Zuko, he will get upset if I stop him, even if he knew I would in advance. 

“You seem troubled. Care for a cup of calming jasmine tea?” Iroh asked as he came up beside me and smiled. 

“That sounds perfect, actually.” I smiled back. Iroh had already prepared the tea and it was now finished brewing. As we sat down, Iroh poured me my cup of tea. I smelled the fragrance wafting off the cup and already relaxed a little. Taking a sip, I closed my eyes and relished the floral taste and deep aroma. 

“Is the tea helping?” Iroh asked, knowing fully that it was by my reaction, but thought it polite to ask anyways. 

“It always does.” I smiled. “Jasmine tea is my favorite. I used to grow my own special stock of jasmine back at the shrine. I miss the shrine a lot.” I admitted. 

“Is that what was bothering you? Being homesick?” Iroh asked. I shook my head.

“While it certainly doesn’t help, it is not what’s bothering me.” Iroh took a sip of his tea, signaling for me to continue. “What I said to Zuko earlier, it was the truth. However, I just don’t think it will be as easy as that. I know that of the people I will likely have to stop, it will be Zuko. I also know that despite him knowing ahead of time, he will still be mad at me if I do stop him. I feel like I just gained his trust. I don’t want it to be squandered every time we run into the avatar.” I sighed, taking another sip of my tea. 

“I think he will be mad too. In fact, he might be extra mad because it’s you who would be stoppin him.” Iroh stated while rubbing his beard and chuckling.

“He’ll be extra mad if it’s me? Ugh that’s even worse… but why?” I asked, grimacing. 

“Aside from me, you are the only other person who truly believes in him. That means more to Zuko than almost anything, especially right now. So to have you stop him, when you also think so highly of him, will not only upset him from you getting in the way of his plans, but he will also be upset at himself for disappointing you. He thinks very highly of you.” Iroh took a sip of his tea and smiled into his cup as he looked over it to see the giant tomato that agreed to join him for a cup of tea. 

“Will he stay mad?” I ask with a blush dusted across my face and hope in my eyes. 

“No he will not. You will just have to give him time. I also think that because it is you, he will get over his anger faster.” Iroh laughed. I tilted my head in confusion. 

“Why would he get over it faster if it’s me?” I asked. Iroh laughed again but shook his head.

“That is one you must observe for yourself.” Iroh got up, having finished his tea. I followed, having finished mine. As we both returned to the deck, we spotted Zuko getting ready to set sail in a smaller boat. 

“Uncle, keep heading north. Zhao will follow the smoke trail while I use it as a cover.” Zuko said while smirking at his own idea. I walked over and got in the small vessel with him. 

“H-hey what are you-” He started, scowling, but I interrupted.

“You are silly if you think I’m letting you go off on your own. I said I have your back, remember?” I stated. Zuko rolled his eyes, but I could tell he was glad to have me come along. We were lowered into the water and set sail for the crescent shaped island. 

“So… what were you talking about with my uncle?” Zuko asked. I looked over to him with a straight face.

“You.” I answered. Zuko looked both shocked and embarrassed, his ears and cheeks sporting a vibrant shade of red. I stifled a laugh at his expression.

“It wasn’t anything bad, so don’t stress over it. I just worry, is all.” I said as I looked out to the water. 

“What do you have to worry about?” Zuko seemed almost irritated. “You’re always so relaxed and light hearted. You just crack jokes and drink tea. I’d give anything to have the luxury of being like that.” I looked over to Zuko, a little shocked.

“Zuko, you don’t know me well enough to say that. My life isn’t luxurious. It’s hardly even my own…” I whispered the last part but Zuko heard me anyway. 

“What do you mean your life isn’t your own? You can’t be owned by someone.” Zuko stated, getting angry at the thought of someone trying to own my life. 

_ I am the avatar for the spirits, meant to carry out their bidding. And I must carry out these deeds the way a spirit would. Detached. _

“Not someone… something.” I corrected, my eyebrows furrowing as tears threatened to spill. 

“Your life is still your own. You have a right to your own life!” Zuko stated. I looked away. 

“I do have a right to my own life. I could choose to take it too… but the cost of doing so would be far too great. I’d be choosing my life over many others.” I stated. Zuko looked as if he was going to argue but I spoke up again. “But, I want to find a way to have both. I think it might be attainable to carry out the duty I’ve been tasked with while still being able to make a life for myself. At the very least, I hope it is.” I looked back up at Zuko. He seemed confused, and well I did only give him a glimpse into my problems. 

“Don’t worry about it, Zuko. Anyway, I think we’re almost there.” I began to walk past him. My anxieties swirling around in my head at the reminder of my responsibility, making my eyes water again. Just as I was about to pass him, I felt a tug on my arm. Zuko looked at me and smiled softly. Bringing his hand up to my face, he wiped my emerging tears away from my eyes.

“Probably best if your friends don’t see you crying while with me. I don’t need that ponytail guy coming after me.” Zuko chuckled. 

“What’s wrong with ponytails,  _ ponytail _ ?” I teased, causing us both to laugh.

**Zuko P.O.V.**

As we sat there laughing, I suddenly felt a weight on my chest. I looked down to see Nira, having placed her forehead against my chest. 

“Thank you, Zuko. It means a lot that you even listened to me.” Her voice was so smooth and soft. I felt myself wanting to hold her close, but just as I was about to do so, she suddenly looked up at me grinning widely. I felt my face get hot from embarrassment as my stifly put my arms back at my sides. 

“Sorry for that! A little bit of contact makes me feel better, but I’m sure I made you uncomfortable. Anyway, I think we’re finally here. Let’s go see some Avatar Roku memorabilia!” She then started to march off towards the tower. I shook my head and followed her. 

**Iroh P.O.V.**

(Saw everything that just happened through the spyglass)

“Hehehe!” 

**Nira P.O.V.**

“Wow look at all this stuff!” I said to Zuko, pointing to all the avatar Roku stuff.

“Nira, we don’t have time for this! I’m going on ahead.” Zuko said as he continued through the temple. I, of course, did not hear him. 

“OH wow look they have his headpiece. Gah I know I shouldn’t but I absolutely have to touch it.” I picked up the headpiece and admired it. 

“Well, what do we have here? Looks like the banished prince’s girlfriend.” I turned around at the unfamiliar voice, but the face was familiar. 

“Zhao?! But our smoke screen-” 

“Failed.” Zhao finished my sentence. “Chain her. I’m sure she’ll be of use somehow.” I stuffed the headpiece in my bag.  _ I’ll just return that after I let Zuko know about Zhao. _ His crew surrounded me and tried to chain me, but I quickly avoided them and the chains. Running past them and Zhao, I made my way up a set of stairs, seeming to have lost them. As I got to the top I saw Zuko talking to the fire sages. One in particular, who was chained up. 

“Why did you help the Avatar?” I heard Zuko ask the sage who was chained up.

“Because it was once the Sages' duty. It is still-” The sage began but I interrupted.

“Zuko! It’s Zhao! He’s here in the temp- AGH!” I tried to warn Zuko, but I was suddenly tripped and grappled by my ankles, which were wrapped in chains. I looked up to Zhao then over to his crew member who held the chains that grappled me. 

“What a great attempt at escape. Your girlfriend is quite skilled at evasion, Prince Zuko.” Zhao said as he clapped and approached me.    
  
“She's not my girlfriend!/I’m not his girlfriend!” Zuko and I said simultaneously. Suddenly I was yanked back again by the man holding my chains. Having enough of it, I gripped onto the chains. A familiar zapping/buzzing sound emitted itself from my hands as I sent an electric current through the chains. The man previously holding them was now on the floor stunned. Taking the chains off my ankles I ran over beside Zuko. Zhao looked towards the doors. 

“You're too late, Zhao. The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed.” Zuko smirked.

“No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out.” Zhao said, too smug for my liking. Just then, more fire nation soldiers came out from behind Zuko and I and chained us to a pillar. Since I was stuck with Zuko, I couldn’t stun them the way I did with the other soldier. Then I noticed the pillar across from us had some familiar faces chained to it. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the two of them. Katara slightly smiled back at me, obviously still concerned about the current situation. 

“Nira!” Sokka happily whisper-shouted while smiling widely at me. I heard a groan beside me and turned towards Zuko who was glaring at Sokka, who in turn glared back. 

“When those doors open, unleash all your firebending power.” Zhoa commanded his soldiers. 

“How's Aang going to make it out of this?” Katara said, bringing Sokka’s attention back to her. 

“How're we going to make it out of this?” Sokka groaned. The doors finally opened and the soldiers unleashed a monstrous blast of fire. However, their fire was being spun into a sphere before being unleashed, revealing not Aang but avatar Roku. The fire subsequently disintegrated our chains. Before I could do anything, Zuko took hold of my hand and bolted for the stairs. 

As we made our way through the temple, we narrowly missed getting caught up in explosions and being burned alive by molten earth. We finally made it outside the temple, trying to catch our breath. 

“Zuko! Nira! Well you two look awfully close.” Iroh laughed from the ship, looking at our still joined hands. We quickly let go of each other's hands, blushing, and made our way onto the ship. Once on the ship, zuko made his way over to the spyglass, looking at Appa fly off with the avatar. Iroh came up to me.

“Well looks like he isn’t mad at you for helping the avatar.” He whispered. 

“Haha yeah I didn’t really get the chance to do that.” I said rubbing the back of my head. “Ya see, I got caught up with a bunch of Avatar Roku items, then I got captured by Zhao, then I escaped, only to be captured again but with Zuko, but Avatar Roku melted our chains and we managed to escape for good.” I finished, gasping for air. Iroh just looked at me and blinked a couple of times before laughing. Then I remembered that I still had Avatar Roku’s head piece. Looking over at the temple, I doubted I would be able to return it. 

“Well, I did get something out of it.” I said to Iroh, Zuko heard me as well and turned around to face us. I pulled avatar Roku’s headpiece out of my bag. Zuko and Iroh both looked impressed.

“That’s a fire nation prince headpiece!” They both exclaimed. 

“Yup, it’s avatar Roku’s!” I said happily. 

“But he wasn’t a prince! How did he get it?” Zuko asked, astonished. 

“Who knows?” I shrugged. 

_ I know. I know how he got it. But something tells me Zuko needs to find out about that on his own.  _

“Well hey as an added bonus to our deal, why don’t I give you this when I help you restore your honor?” I turned to Zuko. He looked at me wide eyed. 

“That sounds like a excellent idea! This one is much nicer than it’s replacement that we have today.” Iroh chuckled. 

“That’d be nice…” Zuko mumbled. He then went back to the spyglass as he tried to follow the avatar’s trail again. Walking up to him, I put a hand on his shoulder as I chuckled slightly 

“I think we need to make repairs.” I gestured over to the heavily damaged engine area, shaking my head that Zuko failed to notice how bad it was. Zuko sighed.

“Helmsman, make a course for the nearest repairs dock. Then get us out of the fire nation.” Zuko shouted. He then turned to me. “That water tribe guy seemed pretty happy to see you.” He grumbled. 

“You think so? I thought he was smiling like that towards you…” I acted like I was contemplating what he said. Zuko just glared at me. “Relax! I’m kidding! But of course he was excited to see me. I am his friend after all. And besides… Who wouldn’t be excited to see all this?” I then gestured to all of me as I wiggled my eyebrows. Zuko just rolled his eyes and pinched his nose as he walked away from me. 

_ I win. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Over 4000 words in this one. This one took me a bit longer to write as I struggled with a bit of writers block. Of course, I somehow ended up writing more than usual. I just can't resist writing scenes where they are all cute together. But I hop you guys enjoy this chapter!


	7. A High Risk Trade

**Nira P.O.V.**

It was a nice day on the ship. The waters were calm, the sky blue, and the temperature comfortably cool. Zuko and I were sparing on the ship deck while I tried to teach him how to sneak. Since we were on an open deck, I was testing him on his ability to hide his sound. I wore a blindfold to keep things fair. 

“Are you sure it will be fair if you wear a blindfold?” Zuko asked. 

“No, it won’t be fair. I have remarkably good hearing. So this will be an especially hard test, your princeliness.” I smirked. I then heard a slightly forceful exhale of air. 

_ He laughed at about 10 O’clock. _

“You need to do better than that.” I shot a flame in the direction I heard the laugh, running up to it under the cover of my flame. I heard a shift to my right and sent my left fist in that direction. I made contact, but only slightly. Only a graze. 

“How the hell are you able to hear that well?!” Zuko exclaimed. Sliding up my blindfold, I looked at him. He was holding his right shoulder. 

“I have been trained well. As will you be! Back in position!” I barked. Zuko got back into position and so did I. Pulling my blindfold down again, I listened for his movement.

“Remember, hide your presence. Also, it is useless to fire bend from a distance if you want to remain in stealth. Fire is noisy. I will move out of the way before it reaches me.” I offered him some advice in hopes to speed up his progression. There was the slightest sound of a foot shifting beside me. I ducked as I spun myself around the person, and kicked the bag of their leg. This of course, causing them to lose balance and stumble. Lifting up my mask, I looked at Zuko, astonished.

“That was really incredible, Zuko! I didn’t even hear you until you were right beside me. If I were any normal person, you would have had me!” I said, but my face twisted into a sadistic grin. “Unfortunately for you, I was trained by a monster. So you’ll have to work a little harder.” I slipped the blindfold back down and got into position. 

“Again,” I said. However, I noticed something odd. I didn’t hear Zuko move back into position. Focusing even more, I still couldn’t sense him. About thirty seconds pass while I haven’t a clue as to where he is, until I hear something right behind me. Swiping my leg in the direction I heard the sound, I don’t make contact with anything. 

_ I should have hit something! Unless… It’s a bluff!! _

But I realised the bluff too late. Before I knew it, I felt something cool against the skin of my neck and a mass of warmth against my back. Then I felt a hot breath against my ear.

“I must be good if I can catch someone trained by a monster off guard.” I could feel Zuko’s breath against my neck as he chuckled from his victory. I smiled.

“Zuko, that was a dirty trick… Good job!” I laughed while taking off my blindfold. Once off, I realized just how close Zuko was. Looking up at him like I was now, there was really only a few centimeters between us. This realization made my body heat up, despite the cool weather. Wanting out of the situation a began to move away, but just as I tried, the ship tilted. Zuko and I both lost our balance, falling and sliding over to the ship's siding. It was after the initial shock that I realized my position relative to Zuko. 

“Um… Zuko? Your hand…” I mumbled, my face as red as my hair. 

“Huh?” Zuko mumbled, trying to grasp the situation slowly. Still having not opened his eyes. 

“Y-your hand… it's on my-” I stopped suddenly turning an even darker shade of red as the hand squeezed and Zuko finally looked up. Zuko finally realized the placement of his hand and removed it hastily from my chest.    
  
“I’M SO SORRY I DIDN’T MEAN TO-” Zuko began to panic with a wild red blush on his face, but I let out a huge breath, calming my own blush a little. 

“It’s okay. I know it was an accident. Just forget it ever happened.” I said rather fast. Zuko sighed and nodded his head agreeing, then he let out a huge growl and got up. 

“Someone's changing our course!” Zuko growled and stormed off into the controls room for the ship. I followed him inside, my head still spinning slightly about what just happened. 

_ That wasn’t supposed to happen before my first kiss!  _

“What's the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course!” I heard Zuko yelling at the helmsman as I walked in. 

“Actually, someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko.” Iroh said, causing Zuko and I to shift our attention towards him. He was at a small table, playing Pai Sho with some of the crew. 

“Is it something to do with the Avatar?” Zuko asked, hopeful. 

“Even more urgent. It seems... I've lost my lotus tile.” Iroh stated, seemingly astonished at the idea. 

“Lotus tile?” Zuko asked.

“For my Pai Sho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ.” Iroh stated, obviously proud of his playing style. Zuko and I now both modeled irritated faces. 

_ I GOT GROPED FOR A STUPID GAME PIECE!?!  _

“You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?” Zuko yelled. I took a large breath before exhaling to calm down. Zuko was, however, still seething.

“See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life!” Iroh smiled, happy to get his game piece back. I could tell Zuko was about to explode, but I was still too embarrassed to talk to him. After a moment of trying to control his anger, Zuko finally let out an aggravated shout with fire blasting out of his mouth and towards the ceiling; thus, the room was filled with smoke. 

“I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew.” Iroh smiled. I just shook my head. 

“I’m just going to go have some tea. Let me know when we arrive at the docks.” I said as I worked my way over to my room. 

We finally arrived at the docks of an Earth Kingdom port. There were a ton of merchants, be they in stalls on the streets or in boats on the water. However, every single one of them was sketchy. I turned to Iroh and Zuko.

“I think I'm just gonna go into the forest and look for some herbs. We are gonna dock here for the night right? I’ll return around dinner time.” I didn’t feel like staying in this shady marketplace. 

“Wait I’ll go with you! We can train a little more.” Zuko said as he made his way over to me, but as I looked behind him I could already see Iroh eyeing things that were over priced. 

“Uh, actually, I think you’d better keep an eye on your uncle before he spends everything you’ve got.” I said, pointing to Iroh who was about to make a bad deal with one of the merchants. Zuko immediately ran towards his uncle, leaving me to go off on my own. 

As I was gathering herbs, I decided it would be a good time to sit and just listen to nature. The fact that Zuko was able to sneak up on me earlier ate at my pride a little bit, so I wanted to practice a little more. Sitting at the base of a large tree, I listened. There were crickets as the sun was setting, a river nearby, a small animal in the bush to the north of me, and voices… 

“Voices?” I whispered to myself, as I got up to go investigate the source. 

“I used to kinda look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible.” My eyes widened as I realised who the voice belonged to. 

_ Aang! _

“I know, that's why I took – this!”

_ Katara too! _

“No way.” I heard Aang say.

“Isn't it great?” Katara responded excitedly. I walked closer to where I heard their voices. 

“No wonder they were trying to hack us up. You stole their waterbending scroll.” I heard Sokka’s voice too.

“I prefer to think of it as ‘high-risk trading.’” Katara stated, smugly. I finally reached them and was able to see them as I made my way through the bushes quietly. Deciding to add a little drama, I concealed my presence until I spoke.

“I leave for one second and you guys resort to piracy…” I feigned a cry of disappointment as I revealed my location. 

“Nira!” All three shouted happily as they jumped me, pulling me into a group hug that I happily accepted. 

“I missed you guys so much! Zuko is such a grump!” I whined. Katara and Aang laughed while Sokka grimaced at the mention of Zuko. 

“About that, why did you have to leave with him?” Sokka asked, also piquing Katara’s interest. Aang knew what prompted me to leave but didn’t know exactly why so he was also interested to know. Sighing, I decided to tell them, though I would have to be careful to not reveal too much. 

“I had a vision where I was helping him. Trying to guide him towards something better. More or less, I guess you could say I am trying to get him to stop going after you guys. That part is going to be difficult, but I firmly believe there is good in him. It’s just buried under a lot of pain.” I said. Sokka and Katara didn’t seem happy about my explanation. 

“It’s great that you’re trying to help him be better, but how can you be so sure you’ll be able to?” Katara asked.

“Yeah, ‘cause I find it really hard to see any good in him.” Sokka added. I sighed again.

“That’s the tricky bit. If I make the right moves, it is definitely possible. I’ve seen it. It’s not messing up along the way I worry about.” I told them. 

“Well if you say there’s good in him, then I believe you.” Aang said to me. I looked to Aang and feigned tears of joy.

“Such a good lad! What did I do to deserve friends like these?” I said as I wiped my fake tears away. They all laughed a little before I spoke again.

“So why are you guys out here?” I asked them. Sokka’s face formed into a frown before he spoke up.

“ _ Someone _ , water bended all of our supplies down the river, so we went to go buy more. And then Katara stole a water bending scroll from some pirates.” Sokka grumbled. 

“That’s rough you guys. But you all probably shouldn’t stay in the area for long since Zuko is here. Should he hear about you from someone in the market, I can’t stop him. But I also won’t tell him” I said as I winked at the last part. 

“We will be leaving in the morning after Appa has rested.” Aang told me. 

“Okay. Well, I need to head back before Zuko starts to worry-” I started to say but I was cut off.

“He worries about you? GROSS!” Sokka stated, grossed out by the theoretical affectionate Zuko. I just laughed as I hugged Aang and Katara, saying goodbye. 

“Yes he does. Don’t you worry too?” I asked, pretending to be offended at the thought of him not caring.

“Wha- OF COURSE I DO!” Sokka yelled as I walked over to him.

“Oh, well how very sweet of you!” I said as I pulled him into a goodbye hug. I quickly kissed him on the cheek as I let go of him. 

“Watch over them and remember to keep them grounded at times.” I whispered to him. Sokka nodded, blushing as he held his cheek. I waved to all of them as I entered the forest again, making my way back to the docks. 

Back at the docks, I saw Zuko and his crew readying the smaller boat and getting it ready for river travel. As I worked my way over to them, Zuko turned towards me. His face was once again determined. 

“We have news the avatar is here in this town. Apparently he stole a waterbending scroll from some pirates.” Zuko said as he gestured towards a group of shady looking men. The men looked in my direction, making my skin crawl with how they looked at me. Stepping closer to Zuko, I motioned for him to bend down so I could whisper something to him. 

“Be careful around them. They give me the creeps.” Zuko looked towards the pirates, noticing how they looked at me and frowned as a result. Though he also noticed that they noticed how close we were, which gave Zuko an idea.

“I think it’s you who needs to be careful around them. I have an idea, but it’s a little weird.” Zuko whispers, a slight pink to his cheeks. His uncle Iroh who has been eavesdropping the entire time smiles, knowing what his nephew is about to suggest. 

“Well, what’s your idea?” I asked him. 

“Pretend we’re dating. I think they will leave you alone then.” Zuko whispered, making his own blush grow deeper. 

“Alright. Yeah I think that might work.” I averted my gaze from Zuko as my blush matched his.

“You two had better make it convincing then.” Iroh whispered to us as he walked off chuckling. Zuko and I were both speechless. I looked back at the pirates who were ogling me and noticed one of them was making his way over. Nervous, I pinched and tugged on Zuko’s sleeve making him look too. Zuko quickly wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in towards his chest, glaring at the approaching pirate. The pirate who was on his way over stopped and turned around grumbling. 

“It worked!” I whispered in astonishment as I looked up at Zuko. 

“Yeah it did.” Zuko looked down at me, his eyes a little gentler than normal. He then grabbed my hand and took me down into the ship until we were alone.

“Why are we here?” I asked him. He looked over to me, then averted his gaze.

“They’ll think we’re kissing or something. It wouldn’t be convincing if we parted after that and I don’t imagine you want me to actually kiss you in front of them.” He stated, blushing and causing me to blush. 

“Oh… good idea.” Now that we were alone though, it was just awkward. The worst part of it was that I couldn’t stop thinking how nice the embrace was. I shouldn’t be thinking about stuff like that. Especially about Zuko. If I develop feelings for him, they could easily cloud my judgement of him and cause me to make a mistake, but…

_ It was really nice…  _

“Are you ready?” Zuko asked.

“What?” Zuko just rolled his eyes.

“Are you ready to head back up?” Zuko chuckled. 

“Oh! Yeah, let's get going.” I said as I started towards the stairs, but I stopped when Zuko grabbed my wrist.

“Wait! It’s better if we leave like this.” Zuko slid his hand down from my wrist and into mine, intertwining our fingers. Both of our faces were ablaze with vibrant blushes. My small hand fit so perfectly in his large rough one. As we approached the top of the stairs, both of us subconsciously squeezed each other’s hands. Not only the pirates looked now, but also the crew. The crew being most confused and the pirates taking notice of it. 

“Crap…” Zuko muttered under his breath. 

“Zuko.” I lightly tugged on his arm to get him to face me. As he turned around, I placed my hand on the right side of his face and stood on the tips of my toes and I placed a gentle kiss on his left cheek. Before backing away I whispered in his ear.

“Sorry, but I don’t think the crew will question it now.” I backed away, smiling at him before letting go of his hand to go get on the smaller boat. 

**Zuko P.O.V.**

__ I watched Nira walk away after kissing my cheek. I watched as the pirates’ gazes followed her, then went back to me with envy; and it made me happy. I could still feel the warmth of where she kissed me, just underneath my scar. 

_ Since when did she start making me feel so happy? I shouldn’t feel like this. I should only focus on regaining my honor. But… maybe. Maybe I can have both…  _

**Iroh P.O.V.**

“Hehehehe…” 

_ I think they managed to convince themselves!  _

**Nira P.O.V.**

Once Iroh, the pirate captain, Zuko, and I were on the small boat, we set off on the river to look for the avatar. I only hoped that they changed their minds and left early. However those hopes were dashed when I heard Katara yelling in frustration. 

“Shoot! Come on water, work with me here!” Katara shouts, frustrated. “Okay, Katara, shift your weight through the stances...ugh!” Katara was yelling again in frustration. 

I stayed on the boat as Zuko and the pirate went after Katara. There was no way I’d be able to just stand and watch them tie her up, but if I tried to stop them, the pirates would be able to guess my relationship with Zuko was a facade. So I waited until things were quiet to make my way over. As I walked up, the pirate captain and Zuko were talking a bit of a ways away from Katara, waiting for some of the pirates to return with Aang. Katara looked at me, hurt evident in her eyes. I steeled my gaze as I stood by the tree she was tied to. 

“Did you know that he had my mother's necklace?” Katara asked me in a low voice. I faced her as I couldn’t prevent my face twisting in guilt. 

“I did… I’m sorry. I planned on getting it back to you and I still do. Had I known earlier that I would meet you in the woods, I would have brought it then.” I whispered to her. Guilt evident from the tears pricking my eyes. Katara knew I was sincere and let out a sigh. Thankfully I managed to not let any tears spill and was able to stand guard by her. However, the comfort was short lived as one of the more bold pirates came over to try to talk to me. He was tall with a ponytail, down turned eyes, and a long mustache and goatee. He looked to be in his mid twenties. 

“So you like guys with ponytails?” He tried flirting with me. Katara was confused with his pick up line. 

“Please, step away from the prisoner.” I told him, not wanting to acknowledge his advance. His smile didn’t falter though as he stepped nearer to me. 

“Oh come on~ Surely the brat with the scar isn’t that satisfying. He’s so inexperienced. You would be better off with someone a few years older.” The pirate cooed as he stroked my cheek down to my neck. I was getting angry now and I could hear thunder closing in. 

_ This guy is so lucky Zuko has business with his captain. Otherwise he would be sizzling right now! _   
  
“I suggest you back away from me before you get burned.” I spat through gritted teeth. The thunder was just overhead now as the dark clouds rolled in. Zuko finally turned around and noticed the pirate, as well as my murderous expression. 

“Get away from her!” Zuko shouted as he pulled me into his chest and away from the pirate. Katara’s eyes widened in shock. “Don’t touch my girlfriend.” Katara’s eyes managed to open ever wider, her mouth doing the same as her eyebrows were raised in confusion. 

“I just find it hard to believe a girl like this would like a guy like you. I mean let's face it, I’m a lot better looking. Seriously, your face is a mess. ” The pirate began to mock Zuko who was practically growling from anger. Just as Zuko was going to do something stupid, I beat him to it. Lightning struck down from the sky beside the man, causing him to jump back. I walked up to him slowly, my hair buzzing and standing on edge with static electricity as the blue in my eyes practically glowed with sparks. I looked down at the man who cowered before me.

“Zuko’s face is  _ perfect. _ If you say anything about his looks or even glance at me again, I will fry you where you stand.” I spat as thunder clapped overhead. The pirate just nodded. The captain came over and gave us a dumb apology. Saying his men have just been at sea too long. Zuko pulled me aside, away from everyone else. He looked upset.   
  
“What the heck was all that?” He asked.

“All what?” I huffed, pretending I didn’t know what he meant as I turned my head away from him. Zuko just growled and shook his head. 

“Did you mean what you said?” Zuko asked, his stare on me unshakable. I grinned.

“Oh yea, I was ready to fry that guy a long while ago.” I chuckled evilly. 

“Not that. What you said about my face. Did you mean it?” Zuko asked, intently. 

“Oh! Yeah every word.” I said nonchalantly as I began to walk off, but Zuko stopped me.

“How? It’s so flawed. How do you find this perfect?” Zuko asked, getting angry. I turned back around and walked up to him. Grabbing his face, I pulled him close to mine. I turned his head towards the left, then the right, and finally straight again to face me. 

“When I say your face is perfect, what I mean is that there is nothing about your face that I  _ do not like _ . I like everything about it.” I said, letting him go. “That is how.” I said while looking at him, my gaze fierce and unshakable. 

**Zuko P.O.V.**

_ How can she like everything about my face? It wasn’t even that great before the scar, let alone with it! I feel so excited around her. Everything about her just makes me feel like I’m on fire. Especially right now! Her eyes so intently focused on me, her sincerity clearer than day. I just want to… _

_...I want to kiss her. _

“Wow, the new guy really pissed her off. I wonder where her and her boyfriend went. Probably making out. I’d want to kiss any woman who said that about me.” Nira and I both heard a voice of one of the pirates getting closer as he was talking with one of his mates. Quickly I pinned Nira to a tree and lowered my face towards hers. Just close enough to make it look like we were kissing. Nira caught on to what I was doing and brought up one hand to my blushing face. Nira was also blushing with the cutest expression. Her lips looked so perfect. The voices stopped as they saw us, then they quickly went somewhere else.

**Nira P.O.V**

The voices of the two pirates faded, but Zuko and I were both in some sort of trance almost. His eyes bore into mine. He looked as if in a state of indecision. 

_ I feel so electric right now. Is it because of him? His eyes look so clear with purpose right now, normally clouded with shame. He just looks excited now. Why does it feel like my stomach has lightning in it? My whole body feels like it’s buzzing.  _

“Zuko… I think-”

“Nira, do me a favor? Close your eyes for a second.” Zuko asked, his voice a little strained. I looked at him, confused before closing my eyes. I waited for something to happen. 

“Don’t peek.” I heard Zuko say, his voice was a little lower than usual. Then, I felt a hot and gentle brush of air against my lips. The warm air stayed there, unmoving. Then it suddenly disappeared, the cool morning air replacing it. 

“You can open your eyes.” Zuko told me. I opened them. Zuko was no longer in front of my face. Instead he was just extending his hand towards me to hold. 

“We should get back. They will likely arrive soon with the avatar.” He said. Normally he would be excited to capture the avatar, but right now he just looks so exhausted. I took his hand, intertwining our fingers. 

“Thanks for doing this. Pretending to be with me that is. I would have definitely fried a few pirates by now if you hadn’t.” I smiled at him. 

“Well we couldn’t have that now, could we?” Zuko just smirked. Back at the riverside with all the others, I let go of Zuko to go to Katara. She would definitely have a lot of questions. Zuko watched me go before going over to the captain to wait for the men to arrive with Aang. 

“Sooooo did you have fun kissing?” Katara eyed me. My face, not hiding my surprise. 

“W-we didn’t kiss.” I whispered. Katara just narrowed her eyes at me.

“Don’t lie. I heard those two pirates saying they saw you two.” Katara whisper shouted. I sighed. 

“That’s what we wanted them to see… We only pretended to kiss.” I said. 

“Why would you do that?” she asked.

“Because a lot of the pirates were giving me unwanted attention. So Zuko suggested we pretend that we’re together to get them to back off. We didn’t think someone would still hit on me after we initially pretended to be together on the ship.” Katara looked like she believed me, but there was something else.

“Then why did you get so angry when that guy basically said Zuko was ugly? You even said Zuko’s face was perfect.” Katara pointed out, making me blush.

“Jeez why does everyone keep pointing that out… Look I don’t know why that made me so mad exactly. I guess it’s because I know that it’s a sore spot for Zuko…” I tried to explain. 

“And his face being ‘perfect’”? Katara smirked. My blush worsened. 

_ Dammit… I knew she’d question that further.  _

“Ugh you would stick to that point… I just think Zuko is attractive, or handsome or whatever! Like I don’t see anything I don’t like, is all. I-it’s not like I like him or anything!” Katara just raised her eyebrow with a knowing look. My blush intensified before I spoke again.

“Okay, so maybe I like him a little…” I admitted. “But I really can’t do anything. Even if he liked me back, getting involved any further than I already am could cloud my judgement.” My eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Katara’s face softened with sympathy.

“Nira, while I don’t understand what you see in him, I don’t think you should just ignore them. You deserve to love just as much as anyone.” Katara said.

“I know… but there is still so much I’m uncertain of. I have to figure out a way to strike a balance between my duty and staying true to myself. Now is also not the time for anything like that. Partly from what I just said, but Zuko is still so lost right now. It wouldn’t be healthy to pursue anything beyond friendship at the moment.” Katara nodded, agreeing with me. 

“Well, I hope for your sake that things work out for the best.” Katara smiled at me. 

“If you weren’t our prisoner, I’d be giving you the biggest hug right now!” I fake cried into my hands. Then I heard the pirate ship get beached, along with a bunch of pirates. Straightening myself out, I walked over to Zuko. We faced the pirates as the crew stood behind us. Iroh stood by Katara. The pirates revealed Aang and Sokka, the latter of which looked at me, obviously upset I wasn’t instantly freeing them. But I can’t do that. The avatar does need to know how to get out of these situations, but I won’t add any extra difficulty either. I couldn’t mouth anything to Sokka or let my sympathy be seen.

“Nice work,” Zuko said.

“Aang, this is all my fault.” Katara apologized.

“No, Katara it isn't.” Aang tried to make her feel better. My eyes looked off to the side with my eyebrows raised, knowing he was wrong. 

“Yeah, it kind of is.” Iroh corrected Aang. Zuko had enough of the interaction between the two.

“Give me the boy.” Zuko ordered. 

“You give us the scroll.” The pirate captain retorted.

“You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?” Sokka asked. I turned to him surprised, then I caught on to what he was doing. I couldn’t help but smirk. Sokka saw my smirk and knew instantly I was still rooting for them. 

“Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other.” Zuko said while pointing at Sokka. 

“Your friend is the Avatar?” The pirate captain said as he turned towards Aang.

“Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll.” Sokka said, appearing at the captain's side. 

“Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!” Zuko shouted. I side-eyed him, irked at the name-calling. 

“Yeh, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth…” Aang said, concerned.

“I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!” Sokka continued to butter up the pirates, who were falling mercilessly for his scheme. 

“Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid.” The pirate captain then tried to walk away with Aang.

“You'll regret breaking a deal with me!” Zuko shouted angrily. I put on my metal knuckles, popping my own. 

“Time to kick some pirate butt.” I sighed in the sweet bliss of revenge. We were all now involved in all out melee combat. 

Some of the pirates who had eyed me earlier, tried to go after me. Likely in hopes of being able to come into contact with my body. And boy oh boy did they ever! Each and every one of them met my electrified fists, leaving them stunned and knocked out on the ground. As I began to make my way over to Zuko to help him with the pirate captain, I heard Iroh telling them something.

“Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?” Iroh stated. I was confused until I looked over at the boast on the water. Aang, Sokka, and Katara on the pirate boat, and the pirates on Zuko’s. 

“We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!” Zuko stated.

“It's no proverb!” I shouted as I pointed at the boats. 

“Bleeding hog-monkeys!” The pirate captain ran after his boat. 

“Hahaha!” Zuko laughed at the captain. His laugh caught me off guard a little making me blush. 

_ Dammit his laugh is too nice! _

“Hey! That's my boat!” Zuko shouted after he noticed. Him, Iroh, and I all ran after the boat. But we were all too late. Eventually the pirate boat along with ours went over the waterfall. 

“My boat!” Zuko yelled, dejected. Iroh finally caught his breath and started giggling.

“Hehe, Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!” Iroh laughed. Zuko tried taking deep breaths to calm down but ended up growling as he took the lotus tile and chucked it over the waterfall. My eyes followed the lotus tile before I burst out laughing. 

“Ahahahah! Y-you hit one of the pirates on the head with the lotus tile!” I laughed, hugging my sides. Zuko just growled and started walking back to the ship. 

“Hehehe now you two will have to explain to the crew what all that lovey dovey stuff was about.” Iroh chuckled. Realization suddenly hit Zuko and I as we both steamed under our blushes. 

Once we got back to the ship, it actually went over pretty well. Zuko left it to me to explain, and everyone pretty much believed me that we were faking it so that the pirates would leave me alone. However, I learned that one thing wasn’t acting. 

_ I like Zuko. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all.... 5500 words! I legit just couldn't stop on this one. I had so much fun writing it lol
> 
> I'm curious as to how you guys would feel about something. Now I don't ever really plan on putting a lemon in this story, but like they are 16. I know what most 16 year olds are like and it usually is more than just kissing and stuff. So I may hint at stuff a little more mature in the future. I haven't made up my mind yet, but it really wouldn't go past a pg13 rating. However stuff like that won't happen until we reach the Book Two part of the series at the earliest. But let me know how you all would feel about that.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	8. The Storm

It was pretty much your normal day on the ship. We were following the avatar, Zuko was cranky, the crew was tired, and Iroh was… Iroh. I was of course having tea and laughing with some of the crew about our funny stories. 

“... so there I was, eel sauce on my knees-” I stop in the middle of my story as I feel a bit of electricity in the air. “Sorry guys, I’ll finish telling you another time.” The guys all groan, wanting me to finish but I manage to get away. I make my way out to the deck where Iroh and Zuko are. 

“There is a storm coming. A big one.” Iroh states as he sniffs the air. 

“You're out of your mind, Uncle. The weather's perfect. There is not a cloud in sight.” Zuko states as he lowers his telescope. 

“He’s right, Zuko. I can feel the slight buzz of the lightning already. Storm clouds are gathering beyond our horizon.” I said.

“The storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest.” Iroh stated as I nodded in agreement.

“We know the Avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same.” Zuko grumbled.

“Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew.” Iroh pleaded.

“The safety of the crew doesn't matter!” Zuko snapped. Lieutenant Jee came out just in time to hear him. 

“Zuko!” I scolded Zuko as he turned toward me.

“Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety.” Zuko growled. Furrowing my eyebrows, I bore my gaze into him harder than ever before. 

“To have so little respect for human life… I guess I was wrong to put so much faith in you.” My expression was stern but my eyes showed the pain from my disappointment. Zuko’s eyes grew wide from the last part of my statement. Those same wide eyes watching me as I left the deck, storming off to my room. The sound of thunder rolled off the water. 

_ How the hell could I like someone who values human life so little?! _

As I sat in my room, I tried to meditate, but my anger was subsiding into sadness. I felt a gnawing pain in my chest. Guilt from saying what I did began to fester. I wasn’t wrong to say it, but Zuko doesn’t have many people that believe in him. Myself being one of two. 

_ Maybe I was too harsh. I’ll go find him and apologize.  _

As I opened my door to go find Zuko, I was met with Iroh. He looked just as disappointed as I was, but his eyes held a lot of sympathy as well. 

“Oh! Iroh. Um, is Zuko still on the deck? I wanted to apologize for being so harsh.” I admitted. Iroh shook his head.

“What you said was just as harsh as it should be, given what you know. That being said, before you find Zuko, please join me and the crew in the main area. There is something I wish to let you all know.” Iroh beckoned for me to follow him, which I did. Finally we reached the main area where most of the crew, who had heard Zuko’s outburst, gathered. They didn’t seem to be expecting us.

“General Iroh! We were just –” Lieutenant Jee started but Iroh interrupted. 

“It's ok. May we join you?” Iroh asked.

“Of course, sir!” Jee agrees. Iroh and I sit down with the men. 

“Try to understand, my nephew is a complicated young man. He has been through much…” Iroh began. 

“Zuko has always been hot headed and strong willed, but he was often shut down by those around him. One day I caught him trying to join the elders in the war chamber. The guards wouldn’t let him in, you see? I tried to sway him against joining, but he was so persistent. Eventually, I agreed to let him join me on the condition that he would not speak in the meeting. The men in that war room were arrogant and self righteous. They would not take well to a thirteen year old speaking to them like an equal. Zuko agreed and accompanied me. The war meeting started off well and much like normal. Going over where we were at in the war and what our situation was like in the other nations and what obstacles we needed to get through. One of which was an earth kingdom battalion. One of the generals proposed the sinister idea of sending in new troops as a way to distract the battalion while those more seasoned would mount an attack from the rear. He planned to sacrifice the new recruits. Zuko, upon hearing this, voiced that it was wrong to sacrifice these men. They were our men. Men who loved the Fire Nation. However, Zuko spoke out of turn and would have to be punished. After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's challenge of the general was an act of complete disrespect, and there was only one way to resolve this…”

“Agni Kai…” Jee whispered, horrified. My eyes widened.

_ He was only thirteen! _

“That's right. Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the General. Zuko had spoken out against a general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own father.” All of the crew, myself included, bore faces of utter shock and horror. 

“When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy… but his father would not grant it to him. Zuko refused to fight his own father. The Fire Lord did not relent and fired at Zuko’s face. I looked away…” Iroh’s face twisted in pain at the memory. 

“His scar… it's from his father.” I whispered in realization.

“I always thought that Prince Zuko was in a training accident…” Jee said, completely abashed. 

“It was no accident. After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment he was banished and sent to capture the Avatar. Only then could he return with his honor.” Iroh informed us. 

“So that's why he's so obsessed. Capturing the Avatar is the only chance he has of things returning to normal.” Jee stated.

“Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope.” Iroh looked at me at the end of his statement. I had to see Zuko now. I had to apologize. 

“Excuse me…” I immediately got up and ran towards Zuko’s room. Upon finally reaching his door, I opened it without hesitation.

“What the- Nira?” Zuko asked in surprise as I caught my breath. I rushed over to him and looked up at him.

“Zuko! I’m so sorry for what I said. I should have never-” I started but Zuko stopped me.

“No. You were right to say what you did. I would be disappointed in me too. I just hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me.” Zuko looked down at me, his face shadowed in shame.

“Of course I forgive you.” My eyes filled with water that eventually overflowed, staining my cheeks. I tried to look away and wipe my tears as I couldn’t stop. Zuko bent down to my height, holding my face in his hands as he wiped away my tears with his thumb. Forced to stare at the scar that I now knew the story behind only made me feel even more guilty.

“I’m so sorry… for saying I shouldn’t have faith in you. For ignoring all the good in you and only seeing the bad in that moment. I'm so sorry….” I cried. Zuko then pulled me into his chest, his arms wrapping around me as he rested his head on mine and stroked my hair softly. 

“Nira, please don’t cry over me. What happened to my monster of a trainer?” He whispered. I finally gave into the hug and wrapped my arms around him tightly as I nuzzled my face into his chest even more.    
  


“Idiot… I fight like a monster. I’m not actually one. Even I get like this sometimes.” My tears were beginning to dry up now. I looked up at him now, his scar seeming more evident to me than before. His eyes bore down on me with nothing less than admiration. 

“Zuko, do me a favor and close your eyes.” Zuko looked at me questioningly but closed his eyes anyways. 

“What I said before… I want you to know I don’t think that of you.” I said as I gently I brought my hand up to his scar. He slightly flinched before relaxing into my touch as I gently stroked his scarred cheekbone with my thumb. Carefully, I brought my face towards his. Zuko, having sensed the warmth of my breath, began to blush. But he didn’t open his eyes. Slowly, I moved past his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on his scar, before whispering in his ear.

“To me, you are more honorable than most.” Zuko’s eyes opened wide as he pulled back to face me.

“And I will always believe in you. I hope that one day, you can see yourself the way I see you.” Zuko stared at me in shock before his expression was that of an emotion I did not recognise. 

“Nira…” Zuko’s hand reached up to my face, his thumb barely brushing my bottom lip. Then his hand was sliding behind my neck, pulling me in. However, the moment was interrupted as lightning struck the ship. Zuko jumped away from me in shock at what he almost did, while I stared at him confused. 

_ Pulling me in by the back of my neck? That’s definitely the first time someone tried to pull me into a hug like that…  _

Zuko and I both ran out of his room towards the deck to see where the ship was struck. We were met by Iroh and Lieutenant Jee who also noticed the strike. 

“Where were we hit?” Zuko asked over the roar of the storm. 

“I don’t know!” Jee responded.

“Look!” Iroh pointed up to the top of the bridge tower where one of the crew members is hanging off of some of the rigging. 

“The helmsman!” Zuko shouted. Zuko and Lieutenant Jee then raced to go save him. As they did that, another bolt of lighting was going to strike the ship, but Iroh redirected it. Iroh had smoke coming off of him and looked confused.

“Iroh! Are you crazy?! Redirecting my lightning is one thing, but actual lightning could kill you. Leave the lightning to me, it doesn’t affect me like it does you.” I shouted. Iroh looked at me like I was crazy now.

“Nira! No-” Iroh began but I stopped him.

“Iroh, I was raised by the spirit of lighting and thunder. I have literally eaten lightning like this for breakfast.” I argued just as another bolt of lightning struck. Quickly, I absorbed the lighting into my body. Iroh was staring at me horrified but also a little confused.

“NIRA-oh you’re okay.” Iroh was shocked to see that I wasn’t fried. 

“Told ya! I just have to watch how many strikes I absorb. Too many are hard to control. It also upsets my tummy.” I said as I rubbed my tummy. Zuko and the Lieutenant brought the helmsman down the ladder as I managed to absorb three more lightning strikes. 

_ Damn, I’m almost at my limit… One more and I’ll have to release the stored energy before absorbing any more.  _

Iroh looked at me and noticed my legs were shaking a bit. He walked over to help steady me but I stopped him as soon as I noticed. 

“No! You can’t touch me while I’m like this. The energy is flowing through me and will continue to do so until I-” I was interrupted as I was struck with another bolt of lightning. The energy stored up was too great. The static around me became visible and my eyes grew bright with electricity. 

“Nira!” Zuko began to panic as he just saw me get struck with lightning, having not noticed the other four times. 

“Zuko, stay back!” Iroh warned him. Bringing both of my hands above my head, I straightened my arms and extended my index and middle fingers towards the sky. My body glowed an electric blue from under my skin as electricity gathered in my hands. As the lightning surrounding my arms grew in brightness and volume, it suddenly released. The energy blast released was enough to knock everyone off their feet as two blinding bolts of lightning tore out of my arms and into the sky in a thunderous roar. The glow of my body diminished as I fell to my knees from exhaustion. Zuko made his way over to me and was about to help me up when the avatar and his bison broke the surface of the water and flew over us. 

“The avatar!” Zuko exclaimed. 

“What do you want to do, sir?” Lieutenant Jee asked. Zuko continued to stare at the bison, but then he looked at me as I crouched on the floor. My body trembling from the struggle of trying to stand. 

“Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety.” Zuko said as he helped me up, sustaining my weight. 

“Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm.” Iroh stated. Iroh watched and smiled as Zuko helped me inside the ship and into my room. 

“Nira, what was that? You got struck by lightning! And then-” Zuko started but I grabbed his hand and squeezed, stopping him. 

“Zuko, you’re too loud… but yes I got struck by lightning. I absorbed it. Then I released it.” I said. 

“You mean you redirected it?” Zuko asked, making me chuckle. 

“Heh, no. I-” I was interrupted.

“It wasn’t a form of bending, Zuko.” Iroh stated as he walked in. I noticed the sway of the ship had calmed, indicating we were finally in the eye of the storm. Iroh then looked at me, his eyes full of intrigue as he smiled. 

“Oh so you noticed?” I asked sheepishly. Zuko looked completely baffled so I continued. “You remember how I told both of you I was raised by the Thunder Boar spirit in his shrine?” They both nodded. “Well he knew next to nothing about raising humans. So he also had no experience with how to help a sick human get better. When I would get sick as a child, he would just impart some of his spiritual energy into me to make me better. Having done that enough times, I gained some powers from it. Lightning does not hurt me the way it would you and I have impeccable control over it. However, in large doses, I’m not completely unaffected.” I raised my hand which was still trembling before putting it back down on my stomach. Zuko reached over and enveloped my hand in his own. 

_ It’s time they know… _

“There’s more…” I admitted. Both of them looked at me curious. “I was born with a strangely strong connection to the spirit world. They have guided me in many aspects of my life and have granted me a specific ability. I get visions. Visions of the future. Visions of the past. Visions of what may be and what may never come to be. These visions are however, not under my control. I can’t stop them, nor can I conjure them at will. But it is also my responsibility to make sure that some of the things I see will never come to fruition. There will be times where I cannot tell either of you about a past or future event. I will not tell you of your own future either. To do so will throw off the balance of things. Sorry, this must seem pretty crazy.” I looked away from them. 

“It does not seem crazy. A little abnormal, but not crazy.” Iroh told me. I looked at him and he could tell there was more than that. When I looked at Zuko then back at Iroh, Iroh got the message.

“Zuko, she is very weak right now. Please go brew her that herbal tea I made.” Zuko looked like he was going to protest, but I gently stroked his hand with my thumb, signalling for him to go. Zuko let go of my hand and left the room. Looking back at Iroh, I took a deep breath. 

“There is another thing. Before I came to you guys, I had a vision. This vision brought me here. I have a specific task I must carry out that involves Zuko. One that will determine the fate of the world. It will in no way bring me to harm him though! I am here to guide him towards finding peace. To find honor in himself that is independent of his father's approval. But.. if I met Zuko outside of all the spirit stuff, I would still try to guide him towards the same thing. Zuko is someone I know I would care for in any lifetime. He has a good heart and I firmly believe that in the end he will make the right choice in the end.” I looked at Iroh now, my expression determined. Iroh chuckled.

“That is a heavy burden you carry. I can see why you felt the need to share it with me, and I am honored that you would. No matter the reason for you being here, I am glad you are, and I am glad that you care so deeply for my nephew. I know that he cares for you too.” Iroh smiled as he finished. I sat up and hugged Iroh who chuckled as he hugged me back. Zuko finally returned with the tea and Iroh decided to leave, patting me on the head as he did. 

“Here, this should help you recover some of your strength.” Zuko said as he poured me a cup of the herbal tea. The same tea I drank when I was first on the ship. I took the cup from Zuko and gulped down the tea. Zuko looked away from me, his eyebrows all scrunched together. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I was scared. I didn’t know about your powers and saw you get struck by lightning. I thought I had just witnessed you die in front of me.” Zuko frowned. Setting down the cup, I took Zuko’s hand in my own.

“I’m sorry, Zuko. For scaring you like that. I promise, it takes a lot more than lightning to take me down. So just don’t worry about me, okay?”

“I can’t just stop worrying about you, Nira!” Zuko shouted, obviously upset. I took a deep breath and pulled him towards me and into a hug.

“I’m sorry Zuko. From here on out, I’ll try my best to prevent making you worry again.” Zuko’s arms wrapped around my small frame as he pulled me further into the embrace. 

**Zuko P.O.V.**

__ As I embraced Nira, I realised just how much I really cared about her. When I thought she had died in front of me, I couldn’t breathe. It was like all the fire inside me went out and I felt cold. My legs almost gave out when I saw she was okay. 

_ She believes in me so much. For the first time in three years, I want something other than my honor. I want to be with her.  _

_ I like Nira.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I'm already half way through Book 1 of the TV series! I will be skipping most of the episodes that don't have Zuko in them, as you may have already noticed lol. But either way I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's not as exciting as some of the others, but I think I will make the next have more action scenes. I wanna practice writing combat scenes cuz it's actually a lot of fun! Thanks for reading this far!


	9. The Blue Spirit and the Ogre Maiden

_ “It’s too bright…” I tried to cover my eyes but the sun kept shining through. _

_ “Here, try this.” A deep but gentle voice rang in my ear before a mask was placed over my face. The harsh light of the sun, no longer a burden.  _

_ “Who gave me this?” I ask. Despite it blocking out the harsh sunlight, I could still see. However, the person who gave me the mask was nowhere to be found.  _

_ “Should you ever need to know, you will. For now take this mask and my guandao. May it lend you strength where you need it.” The voice faded away along with the scenery.  _

**Nira P.O.V.**

I opened my eyes to metal walls and ceilings. Looking out my window, I saw it was still night time. Something was off though, as I felt a weight on my face. Bringing my hands up to my face, I felt a mask. My thumbs slipped under the mask, removing it from my face as I turned it around to look at it. It was unsettling. A bone-white ogre mask with horns and pointed teeth. It was old and cracked, but despite these defects, it was very sturdy. As I set the mask down I noticed the guandao leaning against the edge of my bed. It was one the most beautiful guandao I ever laid my eyes upon. The charred wooden staff complimented by the obsidian blade at the end. Tied around the part where the staff met the blade was a purple rope. At the end of the rope was a single phoenix feather. This was the weapon from my dream, so I can assume the mask is the one as well. 

Setting them both down, I threw on a robe and went out onto the deck for some fresh air. The moon was bright on the water where we were docked, its light dancing on the waves. As I looked up to the stars, I heard someone approaching. From the pattern of the steps, I figured it was Zuko. Turning around, I saw a blue masked figure making its way onto the ship, not having noticed me yet. I walked over to the ladder they were climbing and looked over, surprising them enough to elicit a gasp from under the mask.    
  
“Zuko, where were you so late?” I asked as I extended an arm to help pull him up. Once up he took off his mask.

“How did you know it was me?” He asked, astonished. 

“From your footsteps.” I lightly chuckled. Zuko just sighed, which hinted to me that something was up.

“That was a pretty heavy sigh. What’s up?” I asked him, concerned. 

“Zhao has been promoted and has just acquired a very valuable resource that will help him capture the avatar.” He sounded emotionally exhausted. 

“How do you know- you spied on him didn’t you? That explains the getup.” I noted. Zuko nodded, letting out another heavy sigh. 

“‘Hey, it’s not over yet! Zhao still doesn’t have the intel on the avatar like you do. He’d have to send people out to gather that information and even then what other people know is limited. So you still have the upper hand.” I tried to comfort him.

_ Wait… I’m not supposed to be giving him words of encouragement to hunt the avatar! Oh well, I’ve already said it. I’m in too deep to back out now. _

“Yeah I suppose you’re right about that.” Zuko said as he looked at me.

“What are you doing out of bed at this hour?” He asked, changing the subject. 

“I had a dream where a spirit visited me. They gave me a mask and weapon in my dream, and then when I woke up, I was wearing the mask and the weapon was at the foot of my bed.” Zuko looked at me, a little wigged out. Then his expression changed to interest. 

“A weapon? What kind?” He asked. I rolled my eyes.

_ Of course he would focus on the type weapon instead of the fact that items in my dream became corporeal.  _

“A guandao. I’ve trained with them, but I usually prefer to just use my knuckles ‘cause they’re easy to pack and pretty light. I also prefer to not leave any fatal wounds on those I fight. Knuckles make it pretty easy to hold back, and they can’t be turned back on you.” Zuko nodded in acknowledgement. “Anyways, you should get to bed. My gut is telling me tomorrow is gonna be exhausting.” My stomach growled as I spoke. Zuko eyes me, amused.

“I think your gut is just saying it’s hungry.” He chuckled.

“N-no! It’s just being very vocal about how busy we’ll be tomorrow!” I grumbled as I turned my face away from him with a blush.    
  


“Riiiiight… well I’ll just listen to your ‘gut’ and get some sleep. Goodnight, Nira.” Zuko smiled before going back inside. Soon I did the same, but I swung by the kitchen to grab some leftover duck. 

The next morning I was watching Iroh wipe the deck with some of the crew at Pai Sho while I scarfed down a bowl of soup, a duck leg, rice, and some tea. Zuko and Lieutenant Jee were going over their progress on the avatar. All of a sudden a shadow was cast over the room as a larger fire navy ship stopped on our starboard side. 

“What do they want?” Zuko grumbled.

“Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho!” Iroh laughed as I finished my giant breakfast. My toned belly, now well rounded out with food. 

“You know, you have the appetite of a boar.” Zuko said. I looked at him in shock.

“Thank you!” I said, holding my food baby gleefully. 

_ Heh I’m just like dad! _

“I didn’t mean it as- eh whatever. You’re welcome.” Zuko sighed. Just then, three fire navy soldiers boarded our ship. When they approached us, they took out a wanted scroll with the likeness of aang on it. 

“The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance.  _ (He lowers the scroll.) _ All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao.” The herald said.

“Admiral?” I thought out loud.

“Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him!” Iroh said as he made a move on the Pai Sho board.

“I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass.” Zuko said sullenly. 

“Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area.” The herald spoke.

“Off my ship!” Zuko, now angry, yelled at the fire navy soldiers. The soldiers leave the ship. 

“Excellent!” Iroh exclaims, causing my attention to turn back to him. He just won the game. “I take the pot. But, you're all improving. I'm certain you will win if we play again.” Iroh rubbed his beard as he tried to convince them. It worked as they started another game. I looked over to Zuko who was brooding by the window. Getting up, I made my way over to him. I gently placed my hand on his shoulder, to which he tensed up before relaxing a little.

“Come talk to me in a bit. We’ll find a way to sort this out.” I smiled at him before walking to my room.

_ I need to sleep off this food. _

**Zuko P.O.V.**

It had been about an hour since the fire navy soldiers left. To let off steam, I had been practicing my firebending up on the deck the entire time. Then I heard the heavy steps of my uncle. 

“Is everything okay? It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order.” Iroh asked, concerned. 

“I don't care what they do.” I looked away from my uncle and towards the sea. 

“Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar before Zhao.” Iroh tried to assure me. It didn’t work. I turned to him, a look of fear and desperation on my face.

“How uncle? With Zhao's resources it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar.” I turned back towards the sea. “My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all.” I whispered. Then I remembered that Nira told me to go talk to her. I made my way to her room and knocked on her door. Nothing.

“Nira?” I knocked again. Again she didn’t answer. Annoyed, I began to walk away before I heard a thud in her room. Running back I opened the door. 

“Ouch…” Nira was on the floor rubbing her head, her foot caught in the blanket that was still halfway on the bed. 

**Nira P.O.V.**

“You were sleeping?!” Zuko yelled, my ears ringing from the volume. 

“Shhh... no. I was meditating.” I tried to hush him. 

“Right. You were meditating. Horizontally… with blankets.” Zuko glared at me, obviously not impressed.

“Yes. That is... precisely it! But for what you are here for...” I got up, unravelled my foot, and made my way over to my table where I gestured for Zuko to sit on a cushion. 

“I realise you are probably feeling a bit hopeless about Zhao right now. However, I don’t think you should be-” I started but Zuko stopped me.

“I know. I’m gonna keep a close eye on Zhao. I plan on going to spy on him again tonight.” Zuko stated. I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Oh? And what if you find out he has captured the avatar? What then?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“I’ll take the avatar from him.” Zuko was determined. There was absolutely no way I could stop him. So there’s only one option left. 

“I'm coming with you then. No way I’m letting you do this by yourself.” I told him. Zuko was surprised.

“No way! This is my fight. Besides, you don’t even have a disguise.” Zuko argued. As he did this, I went and grabbed the ogre mask, guandao, some all black clothes (always carry a goth outfit), and a black cloak. 

“You were saying?” I raised my brow at him. “Look I’m pretty sure this is why the spirit gave me the mask and weapon. I’m going with you even if I have to tie myself to you. And aside from that, I’m not letting someone I care about walk into an enemy base alone. That’s not what friends do.” I smiled at Zuko but my eyes held my determination. 

“You wouldn’t back down no matter what I would try, so I guess you’re coming. But I’m glad that you care enough to be so stubborn.” Zuko smiled at the end. 

“Let’s leave this evening after dinner. It will be easier to slip away then.” I suggest. 

“Agreed.” Zuko got up and was about to leave my room but he turned around. “Thank you, Nira.” And with that, he took his leave. The room felt noticeably emptier. 

After dinner, Zuko and I excused ourselves. Zuko said he was going to bed, and I said I was going to look for herbs on land. Only Iroh suspected something. I could tell by the way his eyebrow raised and how he stroked his beard. However, he didn’t say anything. I quickly got changed into my disguise in my room before meeting Zuko at the docks. He was of course in his disguise as well. We both brought our normal clothes and I put them in a bag under a tree for us to change into when we returned. 

“You’ve never looked more dashing.” I joked. Zuko just groaned and pushed onward. Eventually the fire nation base was in sight. Zuko and I hid in some bushes, waiting for the best opportunity to come up for us to sneak in. The sun was beginning to set as Zuko spoke up. 

“Hey, I was wondering. Why do you care? About me, that is? I mean, I’m hunting your friend. Shouldn’t you hate me?” He asked. 

“You’re asking me this now?” I sighed beneath my mask before continuing. “Zuko, I don’t have a great answer for that. If I’m honest there are times where I’m so frustrated with you, it feels like I do hate you. You’re hot headed, selfish, and obsessed with your perceived concept of what honor is. And you’re stubborn on top of all of that.” I started.

“Okay forget I asked-” Zuko looked away.

“But, not only do I believe there’s good in you, I’ve seen it. I think you’re confused. I think your father abused you and that what you really want is his approval. So when I see you fighting so hard to capture the avatar, what I actually see is someone who’s fighting for their fathers love and approval. Love and approval... It’s something I think you deserve. In my thinking that you deserve it, I guess I tried to give you it in a way through friendship and trust.” I admitted. 

“So you pity me? You just care about me because I wasn’t given something you think I deserve?” Zuko looked away from me.

“What? Ugh... no, Zuko. I like  _ you _ . I guess if I were to sum up everything, despite all your faults, you’re determined, caring, endearingly awkward, and while you may be confused about it, you always strive to be better than you currently are. You always want to improve. I admire all of that about you.” I was thankful for the mask because I was blushing immensely. 

**Zuko P.O.V.**

_ Thank the heavens for this mask hiding my blush! _

**Nira P.O.V.**

“Zuko?” I called. He was silent for a while. 

“Thank you. You mean a lot to me too... actually Nira, I-” 

“Zuko! There’s our opportunity!” I said pointing to a wagon of supplies on route to the compound. Zuko looked over to where I was pointing before we both bolted in the direction of the wagon. We set ourselves up on the road before the wagon could reach us.

“Okay you get ready to grab onto the bottom of the wagon. I’m going to jump into the back of it.” I said.

“Why do I have to lay in the road? Can’t we both jump in the back.” Zuko asked, annoyed.

“No. You’ll be too loud. I can land in the cart quietly. Plus, they are going to check the back when we get there. Can you contort yourself to fit in a small crate? I didn’t think so. Now quit’chya arguin’ and lay down.” I huffed as I climbed a tree and lay waiting on a branch. I tossed some leaves on to Zuko to camouflage him a bit more. 

Finally the cart approached and we each got into position. Zuko latched himself onto the underside of the cart as I hopped down onto the road and jumped into the back of the cart. Once inside, I popped the lid off of a crate that mainly held fabrics. I took out some of the fabrics, folded them into a bunch and climbed into the crate. To cover myself up, I placed the bunch of fabrics on top of me, with the lid on top of those. Giving the appearance of a crate overflowing with fabric. 

Upon arrival at the gates, as suspected, one of the guards inspected the cart. After checking the back, he went to the side of the cart to check underneath. I began to freak out a little in my head. Then I felt a presence outside of the crate. 

“All clear!” the guard shouted. The wagon began to move again as I felt someone remove the lid of the crate I was in. Looking up, I saw Zuko’s blue mask staring down at me. He lent me a hand to get out of the crate which I accepted. As he helped me out, the cart hit a bumpy patch of road, causing me to fall onto Zuko. Thankfully the clattering of objects in the cart covered up our fall. Just as I was about to get off of him, Zuko pulled me down, pressing me against him as he pulled a large piece of fabric over us. 

“Ah it’s a complete mess in here. Give me a sec to get everything back in order.” I heard the cart driver's voice.

“It’s alright. I need you to sign these forms first. We need notice of everyone who comes into the compound.” A soldier, further away, was talking to the cart driver. 

“Ahh right. Okay I’ll go ahead and sign then.” The cart driver’s voice grew more distant as he walked over to the soldier. Taking the chance, Zuko and I quickly got out of the cart and snuck our way over to an entrance into one of the watchtowers. 

Zhao began to give a speech as we snuck across one of the watcher walls. Zuko threw a rope down the wall for us to make our way down. We found the entrance to a liquid waste system and used that as our way in. Once in, we found a guard who was slacking off. Zuko quickly pinned him to a wall as I stepped up towards him. I swung my guandao towards him and stopped short of his neck.

“The avatar...” I whispered, trying to hide my actual voice. The guard stayed silent until I sent electricity down the length of my guandao. The guard gulped as he pointed down a hall. 

“He’s that way. Let me g-” I hastily swung my guandao around and hit him in the head with the bladeless end, knocking him out. Zuko grabbed the helmet of the soldier and some chains he had on him. I didn’t question him but I was curious what he planned to do with them. 

We went down the hallway the guard pointed towards, but just before we reached the turning point, Zuko and I stopped. Both of us heard frogs croaking and the shuffling feet of multiple guards. That many guards meant this was where the avatar was. Zuko took the helmet in his hands and tossed it down the hallway. One of the guards made their way over to us, only to be easily taken down by our fire blasts. Zuko began to chain and hand the guard by his hands to one of the exposed pipes in the ceiling. As Zuko concealed himself, I decided to stay in plain view to distract the guards that made their way over to us. As they turned the corner, I let out a feigned gasp and comically brought my hand up to my masks mouth in fake surprise. The guards attacked, but I easily dodged them. Zuko came out from his hiding place and surprise attacked the guards, rendering them useless. They were all now on the floor, unconscious. We rounded the corner where another guard waited. He sent a fire blast at us, but Zuko splashed his attack with water and used the water bucket to knock him off his feet. I sent a low voltage wave of electricity down the shaft of my guandao and stunned him, knocking him out. 

As we entered the prison for the avatar, I saw Aang completely chained up with frogs coming out of his pockets. Zuko started making his way over to Aang, sword dance style, and freaked him out by cutting off his chains. I just sat there, confused as to why one: Aang had half frozen frogs in his pockets, and two: why Zuko danced his way over to Aang. I quickly snapped out of my confusion and let the weird events go as Aang spoke. 

“Who are you? What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?” Aang asks, but Zuko just opens the door and motions for Aang to follow. “I'll take that as a ‘yes.’” Aang followed Zuko as I trailed behind them, guarding from behind. Aang suddenly stopped and turned back at the sound of croaking. 

“My frogs! Come back! And stop thawing out!” Aang knelt down and began to try and round up the frogs. I quickly grabbed the back of Aang’s collar and pulled him away from the frogs. “Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!” Aang yelled. I shook my head.

_ Aang at least try to be stealthy! Stop yellin’ about frogs! _

We worked our way out through the water waste system again and quickly found the rope that Zuko used earlier. As we all began to climb to rope, alarm bells started going off.

“There! On the wall.” A guard shouted as he pointed to us. Another guard at the top of the wall cut our rope, sending all of us towards the ground. Thankfully, Aang saved us with a blast of air. I quickly pointed towards the open gates and we all made a dash for them. 

“Stay close to me!” Aang then jumped ahead of us and blasted some soldiers out of the way with air before darting towards the gate again. Just as Aang made it to the gate, Zuko and I were surrounded by soldiers. 

Instantly Zuko and I got into formation. Our backs facing each other, ready to fight together as a team. The soldiers launched at us and I swung my guandao, slicing the metal spear head off the staves. Zuko attacked the guards on the other side, jumping through the air as his two blades came down on the soldiers in consecutive blows. The guards on my end tried to attack again, so I spun my guandao in my hands and made a wheel of lighting to guard us. One of the soldiers tried to make his way through it with his sword, but he just ended up getting mildly electruced. However that was enough to disrupt the flow of electricity. Another soldier made his way towards me with a large club. As I swiped at his feet, knocking him down, a female soldier threw daggers at me, but I couldn’t bring my guandao up to block in time. Before they hit me, I saw steel flash before my eyes as Zuko blocked the daggers with his swords. After that, Aang used a blast of air to knock down all the guards. Using another huge gust of wind, Aang sent Zuko and I flying onto the wall, where we were again surrounded by guards. 

Aang joined us on the wall and picked us up before any of the guards could attack. He struggled to carry us both as we flew between two of the inner walls. Of course he struggled even more as Zuko and I deflected arrows. We landed roughly on the other wall and the soldiers didn’t hesitate to attack. Two soldiers came at us from each side. Aang fought off one side as Zuko and I fought off the other. Zuko swiped at one as I took the other. Sticking the end of my guandao into the ground, I hoisted myself into the air and kicked my assailant in the side of the head, sending him off the edge of the wall. I looked over to Zuko who just knocked his guy over the edge as well, then noticed more soldiers approaching the wall with ladders. Aang knocked down the people climbing the two of the ladders as I stunned the person at the top of the other who knocked down all the other soldiers as he fell. Aang collects his two scaling ladders, hands one to each of us, and balances himself on the last one. 

“Here, take this. Jump on my back!” Aang yells. Zuko jumps on Aang and I jump on Zuko, barely managing to hold on. Aang begins to use the ladders as massive stilts, shedding one each time a step is taken.

“Gimme the next one!” I hand mine to Zuko who then hands it to Aang. Just as we were about to make it, one of the fire nation goons sends a bout of fire up the ladder. We all jumped off and managed to grab onto the ledge, however none of us could hold on and we all fell to the ground where the soldiers and Zhao surrounded us. 

“Hold your fire! The Avatar must be captured alive!” Zhao commanded. Almost instantly Zuko had his swords at Aang’s neck, and I readied my blade to defend from any attacks. Zhao’s eyebrows furrowed in rage.

“Open the gate.” Zhao growled through gritted teeth. 

“Admiral, what are you doing?” One of the officers spoke up.

“Let them out, now!” Zhao demanded again. This time, the gate opens and we leave with Aang as our hostage. As we approach the crossroads in front of the compound, two arrows are shot at us. I managed to block mine as I was prepared, but Zuko couldn’t get to his arrow in time and it hit his mask, knocking him out. Aang blasted a huge gust of wind at the ground, kicking up a dirt cloud. I looked to Aang, who was looking at Zuko. His mask had come off a bit and you could see his scar. 

_ He’s gonna find out it’s us anyway... _

“Aang, send me up into the air.” Aang recognised my voice but couldn’t pin it, but he sent me up into the air anyways. As I broke the dirt cover, I saw all the soldiers approaching us. While still in the air, I threw five metal spikes into the ground and landed just behind them. Lifting my guandao into the air, I spun it as the clouds began to flash and roar with thunder. Static became visible on my spinning guandao. Just before the soldiers got to me, I struck the ground hard with my guandao as lighting crashed down from the sky onto my guandao and all five metal spikes in the ground. Having successfully stopped the soldiers with a wall of lightning, I quickly ran back towards Aang and Zuko. I saw Aang looking under Zuko’s mask as I swiped them both into my arms and ran into the forest. Once we were far enough away from the compound, I set them both down. The sun began to rise. I looked to Aang, who was having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that Zuko saved him. 

“So if he’s Zuko then...” Aang started. I sighed and took off my mask. 

“It’s nice to see you Aang.” Aang looked at me in shock, but it slowly turned into happiness as he ran up to me in a hug that I gladly returned.

“It’s good to see you too.” He smiled.

“Though I wish it were under better circumstances. Maybe over a cup of tea?” I laughed. Aang looked back at Zuko as he sat down on a root of a tree. 

“It was his idea to save you, you know? I only tagged along.” I told him. Aang nodded.

“I got a feeling that was the case.” Aang brought his knees up to his chest as Zuko began to wake up.

“You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started , I used to always go visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had–” Aang looked to Zuko. “And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?” Aang asked. I looked to Zuko who was actually thinking about it. However, Zuko suddenly blasted a jet of fire at Aang, who dodged it and ran away. Frustrated I let out a lengthy sigh. 

“You actually thought about it for a second, huh? What Aang said. You know, I think you two would actually get along really well. He’s a good kid.” I said.

“I know...” Zuko sighed, catching me off guard. “He is a good  _ kid _ . I’ll capture him for my honor, but admittedly, it doesn’t feel good hunting a kid.” 

“I’m glad. It’s good you feel guilt over that. If you didn’t, I’d start to worry about my taste in men- I MEAN MY STUDENTS HAHAHAH” I began laughing to further distract him from my slip up.

“‘Your taste in men?’” Zuko questioned. However at that point I already put my mask back on and was walking away. 

“Hey you didn’t answer me!” Zuko shouted.

“And I’m not gonna! Hurry your butt up before I miss breakfast on the ship!” I yelled over my shoulder. 

_ GAHHH I'M SUCH A DINGUS!!! I can’t believe I slipped up like that.  _

Eventually, we made it back to the ship. I grabbed the bag of clothes I left under a tree near the docks, handed Zuko his normal outfit, and then went off to go change into my normal outfit. As we boarded the ship, Iroh was waiting for us. I noticed Zuko’s blue mask was sticking out of his bag a little, so I shoved it in further. 

“Where have you been, you two? You missed music night! Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song.” Iroh winked at us both upon the words ‘love song’ which caused Zuko and I to both go red with blushes. 

“I'm going to bed. No disturbances.” Zuko muttered before walking inside the ship.

“I think I’m going to do the same after grabbing some food” I chuckled, following Zuko. I noticed his slumped shoulders. 

“Hey what is it?” I asked. Zuko didn’t turn around but he stopped walking.

“I could have let Zhao take him. Then the fire nation would definitely win the war, but my honor... I stopped a certain victory for the fire nation to save my honor, to save the avatar from torture...” Zuko’s voice was barely a whisper. Walking up to him to face him, I placed my hand on his shoulder.

“You did the right thing, Zuko.” I smiled as I pulled him into a hug. “I’m really proud of you.”

“Thank you, Nira.” Zuko gave in and relaxed as he hugged me back. 

“Well, you should go get some sleep. I need to eat something anyway.” I chuckled as I pulled away from the hug. Zuko nodded before leaving to get some sleep. 

_ Well... that didn’t happen exactly like my vision on Kyoshi Island, but saving the avatar as well as reassuring Zuko is what the spirits wanted. So maybe having feelings for him isn’t getting in the way of things. Maybe...  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all! We only have like 3 or 4 chapters left before I get to start writing the book 2 arc! I'm really excited for that arc. I do wanna let y'all know I won't be updating for about a week because my birthday is on the 6th of this month and I'll be celebrating as well as trying to get my animal crossing town to the right date so I can celebrate my bday on there too. I'm still in april in it lol. Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again for reading it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I love to hear feedback so please comment and let me know what your thoughts are on the story! If you notice any mistakes, please let me know so that I may fix them. I hope you enjoyed ^_^


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